Delta Smelt Essay

Recently, DNA testing has been employed to create a genetic database of endangered animal species. Using this information, scientists have even cloned animals.

Many species vital to ensuring that today’s environment will thrive are becoming extinct. If a species is slowly dwindling, and in imminent danger of becoming nonexistent, this species is considered to be endangered. “One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70% of the world’s assessed plants on the… IUCN Red List are in jeopardy” (IUCN, 2016). According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, upwards of 16,000 species are threatened with extinction, including both plants and animals (IUCN, 2016). Before becoming endangered, a species will show warning signs, either by starting to lose biological diversity or by losing the habitats for that species to flourish in, or in the worst case, both. The word endangered can sometimes be confused with threatened, extirpated, or extinct. Extirpated refers to the state of a species where its population has died out in a certain area or range, but other populations of said species still exist elsewhere (Olden, Julian D., 2008). When a species is considered threatened, or vulnerable, this refers to the state of the species being susceptible to endangerment and extinction (“Extinction crisis escalates”). So if a species is threatened, the first signs of endangerment come along, which are similar signs to that of a species in danger of becoming threatened, including lack of genetic diversity, or overhunting may be evident. (“Extinction crisis escalates”). When a species is labelled

There are numerous regulations in place to protect the Delta Smelt. These regulations basically give the state government and the environmentalists the power to do whatever they see fit to protect the Delta Smelt. And a large portion of what they feel needs to be done comes down to where the water will go. The biggest law they use to support their policies is the Endangered Species Act, under which the Delta Smelt have protected status. They use the clout from these laws to do things like, pump 1.4 trillion gallons of water from the Delta out into the San Francisco Bay for reproductive proposes for the Delta Smelt. While they have put these laws in place and used them to their fullest extent, it is not working. All this trouble has not come even close to saving, or even protecting, the Delta Smelt. Biologists recently caught the lowest number of Delta Smelt ever recorded in a count. They caught six. Not even five years ago, they were catching hundreds in one netting. While the actual population size isn’t known, it is safe to assume the Delta Smelt are on the verge of extinction, and that’s with over-barring, unconstitutional restrictions to prevent exactly this outcome.

There is a three inch fish native to the California delta that is causing problems for California farmers. The fish is called the delta smelt, it has been

The California Delta Smelt are a species of fish that exclusively inhabit the San Francisco Bay area. Known for this and smelling like cucumbers, these little guys are not much of a force to be reckoned with. That is, until 2007, when the species was finally listed and afforded maximum protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act was created, as the second section declares, to “conserve” both “the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend” and the species themselves, because rare species retain “esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value” (Freyfogle 233). This idea of protecting a species from extinction

In Tasmania this species is fully protected and the population has been increasing slowly. However, the populations on mainland Australia are so fragmented and small that they may be too small to survive. This species’ recovery in Australia depends on a nationally coordinated approach, with habitat loss, predator control and captive breeding projects all needing to be

It is important to resolve taxonomic uncertainty of species in conservation programs as resources may be wasted on conserving populations of a common species, distinct species may be hybridized and undescribed threatened species may not be protected.

The three levels of biodiversity are as follows: diversity of the ecosystems, diversity of species within the communities and diversity within species. The loss of species within the ecosystems and within the community can cause a catastrophic result, as species live and feed on other species. Species close to extinction are endangered species, therefore protecting them from predators and offering the chance to reproduce and repopulate. Unfortunately, with little support within the environment, a species can become extinct due to population density. Proper monitoring of an endangered species is required in order to keep species actively reproducing and changing with the environment around them.

A.sub-point: As stated under the Endangered Species Act, more than 1,300 U.S. plants and animals already have been federally listed as threatened or endangered and protected. That is a lot of species at risk of going extinct, fortunately groups such as these are able to possible avoid that from happening. Though some may never be able to return to the wild if the habitat they live in is completely gone from in the outside world, they would not be able to survive. So preserving habitats for these animals is also a key factor of keeping species from going extinct.

The article “Animals Survivors” explains solutions to a few endangered species. “With help from humans , some endangered species are bouncing back to the brink of extinction”. Scientists and conservationists help endangered species safe and grow. In safe environments, the animals are better able to survive with the help of humans.

Surprisingly, in spite of scientist’s concern for the future of biodiversity and how many species might go extinct, scientists do not know the total number of species, in fact their best estimate is between three and ten million (Mora

There is a broad assumption that genetic diversity in wild populations is directly related to population size and consequently species that show recent decline have reduced variation (Vigilant & Bradley, 2004) with such a small, stressed and declining population genetic diversity within this subspecies becomes more important. There are two genetic

Since 1620, it has been estimated that over 500 plant and animal species have gone extinct in our country (US Fish and Wildlife Service). While it may be too late to protect these species, why should we protect other species that are endangered and could become extinct? In the preamble to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Congress of the United States answers this question by stating that we should protect these species because they “are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people.” (Act). While many of these species may not be a resource to man, they are all important in some aspect and need

The authors of the article “Genome-scale data reveal that endemic Poecilia populations from small sulphidic springs display no evidence of inbreeding” addressed the following three questions in their research study: How variable are these putatively separate populations of endangered fish? What is the demographic history of these populations? Should these highly endemic extremophile populations with limited ranges be considered separate units for the purpose of conservation? These questions are important for how governments determine whether or not a species is put on the endangered list, and how conservation efforts are implemented. The researchers tested their questions by collecting samples from three different study sites in sulphidic

Franck and Brownstone define biological diversity as 'the variety and variability of living organisms and the biological communities in which they live' (36). Decades of progress in both the scientific and political arenas have advanced environmental legislation to protect biodiversity at not only the ecosystem level, but for specific species and genetic material as well. Research has shown the importance of every organism and their role in the global ecosystem, and legislation has gradually matured to protect not only species which may become endangered, but the habitats they need to survive as well. Growing consciousness surrounding environmental issues has enabled these protections to be