INTRODUCTION There are 1,436 endangered species in the United States alone. (2) Every species depends on the survival of another, so what happens if one goes extinct? Every organism is affected in one way or another, and it is definitely not a positive affect. There are various terms to describe the status of these animals, just as there are many factors that played into them reaching that status. The extinction of an organism affects everything that the organism at hand comes into contact with directly and indirectly. That is true everywhere, even in your own backyard. There are also many methods discussed and practiced to counteract the extinction of species, but some are not near as successful as others. Though extinction is natural, it is important that we are not the cause of it, and that we do everything in our power to keep it from occurring. What is “endangered”? What is an endangered species though? To be considered an endangered species, the population of that species must be so small that it is at risk of going extinct. (2) Extinct is when a species is completely wiped out, and being declared extinct takes a long period of time. The species at question is only declared extinct when it has gone many years without being seen by anyone. (2) A species cannot be listed as endangered until the chance of recovery is very low. (4) Before a species reaches the point of being considered endangered, they are listed as threatened. A threatened species’ population must be low enough that could soon be at risk of being endangered, however there is not a specific number that applies to all species. (2, 5) There are five criteria when considered a species to be declared as endangered: significant decline in population, a decrease in... ... middle of paper ... ...at 1,436 endangered species, will be dropped down to a much smaller number. Works Cited 1. Callaway, E. 2011. Could stem cells rescue an endangered species? [Internet] Nature. Available from: www.nature.com/news/2011/110904/full/news.2011.517.html Accessed on: 24 September 2013. 2. Do Something [Internet]. 11 Facts about endangered species. Available from: http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-endangered-species Accessed on: 09 October 2013 3. Himebaugh, Glenn. Comeback bird. Tennessee Wildlife. 2011; 35(3): 6-8 4. Knapp, S. 2011. Rarity, species richness, and the threat of extinction – Are plants the same as animals? PLoS Biol. 9(5): e1001067. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001067 5. Neel, M.C., Leidner, A.K., Haines, A., Goble, D.D., Scott, J.M. 2012. By the numbers: How is recovery defined by the US Endangered Species Act? Bioscience. 62:646-657
Mills, Scott L., Daniel F. Doak, and Michael E. Soule. "The Keystone-species Concept in Ecology and Conservation." BioScience 43.4 (1993): 219-25. Apr. 1993. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
Our world is very unique. We share the world with all sorts of creatures from animals of all sizes, and shapes. Creatures that crawl, slide, run, swim, fly, or burrow. As scientists expand their knowledge about the world they unmask many types of species living on this planet. Scientist has discovered about 1.7 million species, and 13,000 more species are being found every year. It is very rare to know that there are many unknown animals, such as large birds or even mammals, but there could be million little creatures wanting to be discovered such as insects, spiders, shellfish, and even worms. As we share our world with many animals is very heartbreaking to know that we are also destroying their habitat and making their way of
Purvis, A., E., J. K., & Mace, G. M. (2000). Extinction. In BioEssays (pp. 1123-1133).
This is an official website provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It provides lists ofthe endangered and threatened species, information on conservation, as well aslinks to laws and regulations concerning endangered species.
Today there are currently 1246 species of plants and animals that are either on the endangered or threatened list in the United States and 1804 worldwide. Of the 1804 endangered species worldwide, only 975 of them have approved recovery plans (Endangered Species Coalition).
On their webpage, an article titled “The Case for Reviving Extinct Species” likens the efforts of de-extinction to the efforts made to protect endangered species.12 Facts have shown that these projects are expensive and also have a chance of failure yet, biologists and conservationists still believe that making an attempt to protect endangered species is worth the effort. If this is the case for the protection of endangered then by their reasoning it should be the same for the efforts of de-extinction. If there is the chance of righting the wrong that has been done to these animals they believe that the moral course of action is to attempt
Think of a world with no adorable red pandas or no grizzly bears. What a world that would be like? Everyday an animal gets hurt or dies because of illegal hunting or habitat loss. Endangered species are when an animal is close to extinction because of over hunting, over fishing, or even habitat loss. Hunting is not okay and it has to stop. Although animals are nice to see and very friendly, nevertheless, killing species is detrimental because it's very bad harming one specie because it can throw off other animals food chain and once a species is gone, there is no way of ever bringing it back.
An endangered species is a species of organisms that is likely to become extinct due to natural or man-made changes in the environment. The animal which is most popular for its dangerously small numbers is the panda, which has become the poster child for endangered species. Unfortunately, there are only about a 1,000 pandas left in the wild. However, more than 300 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers throughout the world.
Today, there are a total of 16,928 species threatened to become extinct ("Total Number of Known Threatened Species:16,928" 1). Since 1970, the population of all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish have dropped by half, 52% to be exact. But a lot of people don't seem to realize the existence of
In 30 years there have been eight species removals, twenty-five species approaching recovery, and 40% of the listed species are stable; these are not numbers that can be ignored (Scully). Even at the 20 year anniversary there were many successes including, the American alligator and gray whale being taken off the list, and another 3 species have been reintroduced into the wild after only being bred in captivity (Bean). Matt Kettmann, professor of environmental history at University of California-Santa Barbara, makes the take home message of his interview that the Act has done a really good job at preventing extinctions and for species that took centuries to decline 40 years in not long enough to recover (Kettmann). With the will and desire America can become a world leader in biological diversity
Sodhi, Navjot S., and Paul R. Ehrlich. 2010. Conservation Biology for All. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This research is just a brief summary of what efforts are taken to protect the endangered wildlife. There is good information on what groups are helping, who is helping. Is there any celebrities helping with this? And what can the kids do if they want to get involve. What are they doing to keep these’s animals from going extinct? Are they moving them to a safer place to repopulate? At least they are trying to clean up their old habitats and make it safer for them to come back to. The dog and cat family are endanger the most because they are so valuable because they are hard to find. Then there’s the bear family that isn’t so much endangered but the type of breed is. Was there a president that wanted to help? Did he/she come up with some sort of group to help the ESA, CITES and celebrities?
Lazaroff, Cat. “Biodiversity May Need Many Millions of Years to Recover.” Environment News Service: We Cover the Earth for You. ENS,
A species of plant or animal classified as endangered is a species that faces the risk extinction. Their possible extinction can be attributed to human activity, climate change, critical habitat loss, disruption in predator/prey ratio, and many other factors. The Endangered Species Act (ESA), established in 1973, is a federal mandate that requires the endangered species to be listed and subsequently protected to avoid future extinction of the species - included is the protection of their critical habitat. The ESA is the world’s most effective law pertaining to the conservation of species on the brink of extinction. Responsibility for the enforcement of this mandate is resided in the US Fish and Wildlife Services. Species of plants and animals
The Earth is far and away the most biodiverse planet in our solar system, with about 8.7 million more unique species than the other 8 planets (UNEP). However, the Earth’s commanding lead is shrinking; not because the other planets are increasing biodiversity, but because Earth’s is decreasing. According to the World Wildlife Fund, we as a planet are losing 1,000 to 10,000 more species than the natural rate. Since the total number of species is hard to pin down, this can mean anywhere from 200 to 10,000 species going extinct per year (World Wildlife Fund). This obscenely high extinction rate is dangerous not just to ecosystems directly affected by the loss, but also creates a domino effect that circles around the globe and up and down the food