The Factors That Play Into Endangered Species

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

Extinction: Most species become extinct because they can’t cope with the environmental change, and also because of introduced species that turned into competitors for

Long-term survival of a species depends on its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Murphy, 1994). Genetic diversity within a species, which has taken 3.5 billion years to evolve, makes adaptations to these changing environments possible. Unfortunately, the rate of extinction of genetically diverse organisms is rapidly increasing, thus reducing this needed biodiversity, largely due to the human impacts of development and expansion. What was an average of one extinction per year before is now one extinction per hour and extinct species numbers are expected to reach approximately one million by the year 2000 (WWW site, Bio 65). As a result governmental and societal action must

In today’s world, hardly any species of wildlife become extinct from natural causes. Europeans hunt animals to such an extent that we classify it as overhunting. We destroy their habitat, and introduce other animals that are a threat to endangered animals or are competition for resources and food. Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to both animals and plants.

Summarize: The result of one species extinction could potentially be fatal to the environment. In the animal kingdom, there is a food chain. Keystone animals, are the key ingredient to the food chain. When that keystone animals goes extinct, it sets off a chain reaction on the other animal’s food source. This causes one species to flourish and another to dwindle. The environment needs a healthy checks and balance system to keep each animal population under control (Stuart, 1990 ). Humans can cause the keystone animal to become extinct and therefore, responsible for rise and decline of other species, ultimately, throwing the food chain off balance.

Throughout evolution, many species have come and gone. What causes a species to become extinct and what can the human race due to prevent it? Many species’ population decline has been linked to human causation. An endangered species is defined as “plant and animal species that are at risk for extinction” (Funk). Endangered species can be placed into two more specific categorizes. Threatened species are species at risk for endangerment, while endangered species are at risk for extinction. Despite the fact that many people believe extinction is a major issue, the Funk and Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia states that, “extinction is actually a normal process in the course of evolution” (Funk). Over time, numerous species have become extinct, usually as a result of climate changes, inability to adapt, or predation. Another major cause of endangerment is the human population. Pollution, global warming, and hunting is all causing a decline in the population of numerous species. While the encyclopedia is entirely fact based, many authors have worked to sensitize people to threatened species. For example, renowned author Sharon Begley, has written numerous articles to inform people of the importance of many species that are often overlooked.

According to The Endangered Species Act of 1973, the term “endangered species” means a species which is in danger of extinction. The term “threatened species” is any species which is likely to become endangered. A species may be endangered, threatened, common, or abundant in different regions at the same time. For example, the Bald Eagle was common in Alaska but endangered in the lower 40 states of the United States. The primary reason for why species become endangered or threatened is because of the loss of habitat. Unfortunately, habitat loss appears to be evitable until humans minimize their consumption of natural resources. Unlike humans, who are capable of modifying their surroundings to cope with harsh or changing environmental conditions,

The sheer number of animals outway the number of people, yet so many animals are becoming extinct every day one by one they are disappearing. The Red List is one of the more infamous websites, has over 7600 animals on record. To understand these matters researchers go deep into examination looking into the causes and effects

Earth is home to many wonderful and exotic species, as well as our home. These species, including us, rely on their environment to find shelter and food. Unfortunately, their ecosystem is being destroyed by us. Some species are already at the risk of becoming extinct. One can wonder how far we will go and what would be the consequences of our actions.

The endangered species are native species which are under threat of total or partial extinction of species in the future. Such extinction of endangered species may or may not be under any biodiversity law, but can be included in the list of endangered species.

Extinction is the or process of a species, family, or larger group being or becoming extinct.

Since the beginning of life itself, some species have lived and prospered while other species have gone extinct never to be seen again by mankind. Because of this, some would claim that extinction is natural and not significantly problematic to the world that we live in. Others, however, understand that due to climate change, habitat loss, and poaching, more and more species are becoming endangered which leads to a chain reaction that can be devastating to ecosystems. Species such as the Chinook salmon, gorillas, tropical sharks, and polar bears are all directly affected by climate change, species such as northern spotted owls, Sumatran tigers, and lemurs are greatly harmed due to habitat loss, and species such as the sea turtle, Javan rhinoceros, African elephant, and the Red-Fronted Macaw are all affected by poaching driving them all closer and closer to becoming extinct.

From the 17th century to 20th century, over 300 years, countries gradually becoming modern and human civilization developed rapidly. We changed the earth little by little, we paid more attention on how to improve the technique we had, at the same time we forgot to protect our environment which resulted many species of animals are in danger of becoming extinct. From a research it shows there are 16,928 listed endangered and 905 are already extinct.

It’s clear that a great extinction is coming from the evidence of the destruction of other species around us. The choices made by the human race have too often negatively affected the surrounding species. Tracy Wilson, the site director for HowStuffWorks.com, in an article for Animal Planet, states that

Without balance, surely all of the ecosystems will collapse in on itself. What is a species? What exactly is an endangered species? What is an extinct species? How have these species come to the point of becoming endangered or extinct? What can we do to save the endangered species that are near extinction? Can we actually do anything to save these species, or is it a lost cause? Why should I care?