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This article from EBSCOhost talks about how the bald eagle was an endangered species but is now at a healthy population with the help of programs and associations that brought the bald eagle population back. I found this article interesting because of the way that this made me want to get more involved due to the bald eagle being the bird that represents the U.S. as a country.

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ELM is brought to you by your local library or school media center, Minitex, and State Library Services, the MN state library agency, with state appropriations to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Education, and federal LSTA funds under the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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Use this for one of the ways to help get involved with saving the endangered species. This source is a way that I can use for an example for how to help towards saving the endangered species. I am thinking of putting this on a slide that will say, "for people that are more athletic"... or something along the lines of that. This is also the link I will be using. I think this will be a good idea for a small yet effective way that will help donate money towards foundations that put research into more effective ways of saving the endangered species.

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community fundraising
 personal fundraising

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Panda Nation | Fundraise for WWF - Your Way

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Rock New Orleans with Panda Nation - join the Humana Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon, 1/2 and 10K on March 4 & 5, 2018.

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Endangered species statistics. Here shown are the endangered species in a list and how many there are left of that species. This will be good to use for statistics of the animals that will give the audience a possible shock of how many animals there ACTUALLY are.

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Endangered Species Statistics and Numbers

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more about the north america endangered species 

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more about the north america endangered species 

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This websites explains species that are in north america, specifically in the great plains, that have endangered species that need to be saved. The site also shares what efforts are being made by them to save the species in North America such as having conservation partners that will help with the physical landscape for the animals.

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Learn about the wildlife and people in the Northern Great Plains, as well as the threats the area faces, what WWF is doing, and how you can help.

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This articles shows a visual well of how a person can be involved. The website lists multiple ways such as if a person wants to become involved and they are active they can start or join in a run that raises money to save endangered species. or if they would like to do something less active they can go on this site to tell the government that endangered species should be saved by sending their info in that will add to a poll.

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Take Action - Join Our Activist Network | World Wildlife Fund

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Take action today and help endangered species, the habitats they live in, and the communities that depend on them thrive. Join our network of conservation advocates on the WWF Action Center.

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simple yet effective ways to save the endangered species. I ran through the different ways a person could help and one of them a person could do at home which is making a small feeder or habitat for animals to use as shelter and food. This is a great idea especially for people that may not want to donate money or have to go through great measures just to volunteer.
- use for call to action

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10 Easy Things You Can Do to Save Endangered Species - Endangered Species Coalition

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1. Learn about endangered species in your area. Teach your friends and family about the wonderful wildlife, birds, fish and plants that live near you. The first step to protecting endangered species is learning about how interesting and important they…

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why to consider the obvious reasons for taking care of the endangered species (dontating. As well as most people are familiar with animal planet which will give them some background knowledge on animals and the ways they help our planet survive. This source will give me other and different ways if a person would like to help, and grab their attention to this project.

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Learn more about the world's most endangered species and learn how you can help.

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Others partygoers said that a woman named "Peaches" or "Tasty" was renting the house and had invited them. A police officer called the woman, who gave evasive answers and declined to return to the party. The police then arrested the partygoers for unlawful entry and later charged them with disorderly conduct. The charges were eventually dropped.

Sixteen of the partygoers sued, saying there had been no probable cause to arrest them. A trial judge agreed, saying there was no evidence that the partygoers knew or should have known that they were trespassing. The judge awarded them damages and legal fees of almost $1 million, and a divided appeals court panel affirmed.

Justice Thomas, writing for seven justices, said that in the circumstances the police officers had been entitled to assume that "the partygoers were knowingly taking advantage of a vacant house as a venue for their late-night party." Some of them fled or hid, he wrote, which was "an indication that they knew they were not supposed to be there."

There may have been innocent explanations for particular responses, Justice Thomas wrote. But taken as a whole, the scene at the party was enough to provide probable cause for the arrests.

"The circumstances here certainly suggested criminal activity," he wrote. "As explained, the officers found a group of people who claimed to be having a bachelor party with no bachelor, in a near-empty house, with strippers in the living room and sexual activity in the bedroom, and who fled at the first sign of police."

In any event, he added, the officers were entitled to immunity from the lawsuit because there was no Supreme Court decision clearly establishing that the arrests were unlawful. In a concurring opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined only that part of Justice Thomas's opinion.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also voted with the majority but did not embrace its reasoning. She suggested that the court should revise its approach to such cases. "The court's jurisprudence, I am concerned, sets the balance too heavily in favor of police unaccountability to the detriment of Fourth Amendment protection," Justice Ginsburg wrote.

The court also agreed to hear a case on the habitat of an endangered animal, the dusky gopher frog, in Weyerhauser Co. v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, No. 17-71. In 2012, the federal government designated private land in Louisiana as "critical habitat" for the frog, limiting the ability of the owners to develop the land and by one account potentially costing them about $34 million.

The landowners argued that the designation makes no sense, as the frogs are not currently present and the land is not a suitable habitat for them in any event. "The frog does not live there, cannot live there, and will not live there in the future," the landowners told the Supreme Court.

The government responded that the land was the best choice for an effort to protect the frog.

The landowners' objection that their land "is not suited in all respects for immediate occupation by the frog," the government's lawyers wrote, "overlooks the substantial practical challenges inherent in the identification of critical habitat for endangered species. Many species are endangered precisely because their ideal habitat has been severely diminished or eliminated altogether."

"Where optimal habitat is unavailable," the brief said, "the service acts appropriately in prioritizing areas with those features that are rarest or most difficult to reproduce through human intervention - here, the unique ephemeral ponds necessary for the frog's breeding - while ensuring that any deficiencies in those areas could be addressed with 'reasonable effort.' "

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Supreme Court Considers a Raucous Party and an Endangered Frog

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Others partygoers said that a woman named "Peaches" or "Tasty" was renting the house and had invited them. A police officer called the woman, who gave evasive answers and declined to return to the party. The police then arrested the partygoers for unlawful entry and later charged them with disorderly conduct.

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use this for effects and the WHY for why we humans should save the endangered species. As well as the point about humans also killing species is because of fear for our own lives but also for pets and livestock too. This made me think in a different direction for why humans kill of species so quickly. Also the author made a good point for needing to keep a balance in the ecosystem, example is killing the wolf population. If the grey wolf is extinct there will be an unbalance towards the prey it normally kills.

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We are surrounded by endangered species every day. Majestic tigers grace posters on bedroom walls, stuffed toy pandas stare blankly from shopping mall shelves; with the click of a button, we can watch the elaborate courtship rituals of whooping cranes and the strategic hunting habits of the Amur leopard on the Discover y Channel. No matter where we look, images and information about the world's rarest animals are readily available, but do we ever stop to think about the effects endangered species have on their environments, what happens after they disappear?

So, does it really matter if an animal goes extinct when we can still watch it on television, even after it's gone? A single species' disappearance can, in fact, make a huge difference on a global scale. Like pieces of yarn in a woven tapestry, the removal of one can start unraveling the whole system.

Before the internet, the "worldwide web" could have referred to the intricate systems of connections between living organisms and their environments. We often call it the food web, although it encompasses many more factors than just diet. The living web, like a tapestry, is held together not by tacks or glue, but by interdependence-one strand stays in place because it is entwined with many others.

The same concept keeps our planet working. Plants and animals (including humans) depend on each other as well as microorganisms, land, water, and climate to keep our entire system alive and well.

Remove one piece, one species, and small changes lead to big problems that aren't easy to fix. In the words of the World Wildlife Fund, "When you remove one element from a fragile ecosystem, it has far-reaching and long-lasting effects on biodiversity."

Many endangered species are top predators whose numbers are dwindling due to conflicts with humans. We kill predators all over the world because we fear for our own interests, we compete with them for prey and we destroy their habitats to expand our communities and agricultural operations.

Take for example the effect human intervention had on the gray wolf and the subsequential effects their dwindling population numbers had on its environment and biodiversity.

Before a mass extermination effort in the U.S. that decimated wolf populations in the first half of the 20th century, wolves kept other animals' populations from growing exponentially. They hunted elk, deer, and moose and also killed smaller animals such as coyotes, raccoons, and beavers.

Without wolves to keep other animals' numbers in check, prey populations grew larger. Exploding elk populations in the western United States wiped out so many willows and other riparian plants that songbirds no longer had sufficient food or cover in these areas, threatening their survival and increasing numbers of insects like mosquitos that the songbirds were meant to control.

"Oregon State University scientists point to the intricacy of the Yellowstone ecosystem," reported in 2011. "The wolves prey on the elk, for example, which in turn graze on young aspen and willow trees in Yellowstone, which in their turn provide cover and food for songbirds and other species. As the elks' fear of wolves has increased over the past 15 years, elk 'browse' less-that is, eat fewer twigs, leaves, and shoots from the park's young trees-and that is why, the scientists say, trees and shrubs have begun recovering along some of Yellowstone's streams. These streams are now providing improved habitat for beaver and fish, with more food for birds and bears."

But it's not only large beasts of prey that can impact the ecosystem in their absence, small species can have just as big of an effect.

While the losses of large, iconic species like the wolf, tiger, rhino, and polar bear may make for more stimulating news stories than the disappearance of moths or mussels, even small species can affect ecosystems in significant ways.

Consider the meager freshwater mussel: There are nearly 300 species of mussel in North American river and lakes, and most of them are threatened. How does this affect the water we all depend on?

"Mussels play an important role in the aquatic ecosystem," explains the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Many different kinds of wildlife eat mussels, including raccoon, otters, herons and egrets. Mussels filter water for food and thus are a purification system. They are usually present in groups called beds. Beds of mussels may range in size from smaller than a square foot to many acres; these mussel beds can be a hard 'cobble' on the lake, river, or stream bottom which supports other species of fish, aquatic insects and worms."

In their absence, these dependent species settle elsewhere, lower the available food source for their predators and in turn cause those predators to leave the area. Like the gray wolf, even the small mussel's disappearance acts like a domino, toppling the entire ecosystem one related species at a time.

We may not see wolves on a regular basis, and nobody really wants a poster of a Higgins eye pearly mussel on the wall, but the presence of these creatures is interwoven with the environment we all share. Losing even a small strand in the web of life contributes to the unraveling of our planet's sustainability, the fine balance of biodiversity that affects each and every one of us.

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We are surrounded by endangered species every day. Majestic tigers grace posters on bedroom walls, stuffed toy pandas stare blankly from shopping mall shelves; with the click of a button, we can watch the elaborate courtship rituals of whooping cranes and the strategic hunting habits of the Amur leopard on the Discover y Channel.

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Some basic facts about Endangered species. This topic talks about how the habitat of endangered species is sometimes affected by humans. I think I will use this for background information for the students at the elementary school. There are plenty of connected issues that endangered species brings to the environment.

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An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction. Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation.

Loss of Habitat
A loss of habitat can happen naturally. Dinosaurs, for instance, lost their habitat about 65 million years ago. The hot, dry climate of the Cretaceous period changed very quickly, most likely because of an asteroid striking the Earth. The impact of the asteroid forced debris into the atmosphere, reducing the amount of heat and light that reached Earth's surface. The dinosaurs were unable to adapt to this new, cooler habitat. Dinosaurs became endangered, then extinct.

Human activity can also contribute to a loss of habitat. Development for housing, industry, and agriculture reduces the habitat of native organisms. This can happen in a number of different ways.

Development can eliminate habitat and native species directly. In the Amazon rain forest of South America, developers have cleared hundreds of thousands of acres. To "clear" a piece of land is to remove all trees and vegetation from it. The Amazon rain forest is cleared for cattle ranches, logging, and urban use.

Development can also endanger species indirectly. Some species, such as fig trees of the rain forest, may provide habitat for other species. As trees are destroyed, species that depend on that tree habitat may also become endangered. Tree crowns provide habitat in the canopy, or top layer, of a rainforest. Plants such as vines, fungi such as mushrooms, and insects such as butterflies live in the rain forest canopy. So do hundreds of species of tropical birds and mammals such as monkeys. As trees are cut down, this habitat is lost. Species have less room to live and reproduce.

Loss of habitat may happen as development takes place in a species range. Many animals have a range of hundreds of square kilometers. The mountain lion of North America, for instance, has a range of up to 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles). To successfully live and reproduce, a single mountain lion patrols this much territory. Urban areas, such as Los Angeles, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, grew rapidly during the 20th century. As these areas expanded into the wilderness, the mountain lion's habitat became smaller. That means the habitat can support fewer mountain lions. Because enormous parts of the Sierra Nevada, Rocky, and Cascade mountain ranges remain undeveloped, however, mountain lions are not endangered.

Loss of habitat can also lead to increased encounters between wild species and people. As development brings people deeper into a species range, they may have more exposure to wild species. Poisonous plants and fungi may grow closer to homes and schools. Wild animals are also spotted more frequently. These animals are simply patrolling their range, but interaction with people can be deadly. Polar bears, mountain lions, and alligators are all predators brought into close contact with people as they lose their habitat to homes, farms, and businesses. As people kill these wild animals, through pesticides, accidents such as collisions with cars, or hunting, native species may become endangered.

Loss of Genetic Variation
Genetic variation is the diversity found within a species. It's why human beings may have blond, red, brown, or black hair. Genetic variation allows species to adapt to changes in the environment. Usually, the greater the population of a species, the greater its genetic variation.

Inbreeding is reproduction with close family members. Groups of species that have a tendency to inbreed usually have little genetic variation, because no new genetic information is introduced to the group. Disease is much more common, and much more deadly, among inbred groups. Inbred species do not have the genetic variation to develop resistance to the disease. For this reason, fewer offspring of inbred groups survive to maturity.

Loss of genetic variation can occur naturally. Cheetahs are a threatened species native to Africa and Asia. These big cats have very little genetic variation. Biologists say that during the last ice age, cheetahs went through a long period of inbreeding. As a result, there are very few genetic differences between cheetahs. They cannot adapt to changes in the environment as quickly as other animals, and fewer cheetahs survive to maturity. Cheetahs are also much more difficult to breed in captivity than other big cats, such as lions.

Human activity can also lead to a loss of genetic variation. Overhunting and overfishing have reduced the populations of many animals. Reduced population means there are fewer breeding pairs. A breeding pair is made up of two mature members of the species that are not closely related and can produce healthy offspring. With fewer breeding pairs, genetic variation shrinks.

Monoculture, the agricultural method of growing a single crop, can also reduce genetic variation. Modern agribusiness relies on monocultures. Almost all potatoes cultivated, sold, and consumed, for instance, are from a single species, the Russet Burbank. Potatoes, native to the Andes Mountains of South America, have dozens of natural varieties. The genetic variation of wild potatoes allows them to adapt to climate change and disease. For Russet Burbanks, however, farmers must use fertilizers and pesticides to ensure healthy crops because the plant has almost no genetic variation.

Plant breeders often go back to wild varieties to collect genes that will help cultivated plants resist pests and drought, and adapt to climate change. However, climate change is also threatening wild varieties. That means domesticated plants may lose an important source of traits that help them overcome new threats.

The Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) keeps a "Red List of Threatened Species." The Red List defines the severity and specific causes of a species' threat of extinction. The Red List has seven levels of conservation: least concern, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild, and extinct. Each category represents a different threat level.

Species that are not threatened by extinction are placed within the first two categories-least concern and near-threatened. Those that are most threatened are placed within the next three categories, known as the threatened categories-vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered. Those species that are extinct in some form are placed within the last two categories-extinct in the wild and extinct.

Classifying a species as endangered has to do with its range and habitat, as well as its actual population. For this reason, a species can be of least concern in one area and endangered in another. The gray whale, for instance, has a healthy population in the eastern Pacific Ocean, along the coast of North and South America. The population in the western Pacific, however, is critically endangered.

Least Concern
Least concern is the lowest level of conservation. A species of least concern is one that has a widespread and abundant population. Human beings are a species of least concern, along with most domestic animals, such as dogs and cats. Many wild animals, such as pigeons and houseflies, are also classified as least concern.

Near Threatened
A near threatened species is one that is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.

Many species of violets, native to tropical jungles in South America and Africa, are near threatened, for instance. They have healthy populations, but their rain forest habitat is disappearing at a fast pace. People are cutting down huge areas of rain forest for development and timber. Many violet species are likely to become threatened.

The definitions of the three threatened categories (vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered) are based on five criteria: population reduction rate, geographic range, population size, population restrictions, and probability of extinction.
Vulnerable Species
Threatened categories have different thresholds for these criteria. As the population and range of the species decreases, the species becomes more threatened.

1) Population reduction rate
A species is classified as vulnerable if its population has declined between 30 and 50 percent. This decline is measured over 10 years or three generations of the species, whichever is longer. A generation is the period of time between the birth of an animal and the time it is able to reproduce. Mice are able to reproduce when they are about one month old. Mouse populations are mostly tracked over 10-year periods. An elephant's generation lasts about 15 years. So, elephant populations are measured over 45-year periods.

A species is vulnerable if its population has declined at least 50 percent and the cause of the decline is known. Habitat loss is the leading known cause of population decline.

A species is also classified as vulnerable if its population has declined at least 30 percent and the cause of the decline is not known. A new, unknown virus, for example, could kill hundreds or even thousands of individuals before being identified.

2) Geographic range
A species is vulnerable if its "extent of occurrence" is estimated to be less than 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles). An extent of occurrence is the smallest area that could contain all sites of a species' population. If all members of a species could survive in a single area, the size of that area is the species' extent of occurrence.

A species is also classified as vulnerable if its "area of occupancy" is estimated to be less than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles). An area of occupancy is where a specific population of that species resides. This area is often a breeding or nesting site in a species range.

3) Population size
Species with fewer than 10,000 mature individuals are vulnerable. The species is also vulnerable if that population declines by at least 10 percent within 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer.

4) Population restrictions
Population restriction is a combination of population and area of occupancy. A species is vulnerable if it is restricted to less than 1,000 mature individuals or an area of occupancy of less than 20 square kilometers (8 square miles).

5) Probability of extinction in the wild is at least 10 percent within 100 years.
Biologists, anthropologists, meteorologists, and other scientists have developed complex ways to determine a species' probability of extinction. These formulas calculate the chances a species can survive, without human protection, in the wild.

Vulnerable Species: Ethiopian Banana Frog
The Ethiopian banana frog ( Afrixalus enseticola) is a small frog native to high-altitude areas of southern Ethiopia. It is a vulnerable species because its area of occupancy is less than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles). The extent and quality of its forest habitat are in decline. Threats to this habitat include forest clearance, mostly for housing and agriculture.

Vulnerable Species: Snaggletooth Shark
The snaggletooth shark ( Hemipristis elongatus) is found in the tropical, coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its area of occupancy is enormous, from southeast Africa to the Philippines, and from China to Australia.

However, the snaggletooth shark is a vulnerable species because of a severe population reduction rate. Its population has fallen more than 10 percent over 10 years. The number of sharks is declining due to fisheries, especially in the Java Sea and Gulf of Thailand. The snaggletooth shark's flesh, fins, and liver are considered high-quality foods. They are sold in commercial fish markets, as well as restaurants.

Vulnerable Species: Galapagos Kelp
Galapagos kelp ( Eisenia galapagensis) is a type of seaweed only found near the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Galapagos kelp is classified as vulnerable because its population has declined more than 10 percent over 10 years.

Climate change is the leading cause of decline among Galapagos kelp. El Nino, the natural weather pattern that brings unusually warm water to the Galapagos, is the leading agent of climate change in this area. Galapagos kelp is a cold-water species and does not adapt quickly to changes in water temperature.

Endangered Species
1) Population reduction rate
A species is classified as endangered when its population has declined between 50 and 70 percent. This decline is measured over 10 years or three generations of the species, whichever is longer.

A species is classified as endangered when its population has declined at least 70 percent and the cause of the decline is known. A species is also classified as endangered when its population has declined at least 50 percent and the cause of the decline is not known.

2) Geographic range
An endangered species' extent of occurrence is less than 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles). An endangered species' area of occupancy is less than 500 square kilometers (193 square miles).

3) Population size
A species is classified as endangered when there are fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. When a species population declines by at least 20 percent within five years or two generations, it is also classified as endangered.

4) Population restrictions
A species is classified as endangered when its population is restricted to less than 250 mature individuals. When a species' population is this low, its area of occupancy is not considered.

5) Probability of extinction in the wild is at least 20 percent within 20 years or five generations, whichever is longer.

Endangered Species: Siberian Sturgeon
The Siberian sturgeon ( Acipenser baerii) is a large fish found in rivers and lakes throughout the Siberian region of Russia. The Siberian sturgeon is a benthic species. Benthic species live at the bottom of a body of water.

The Siberian sturgeon is an endangered species because its total population has declined between 50 and 80 percent during the past 60 years (three generations of sturgeon). Overfishing, poaching, and dam construction have caused this decline. Pollution from mining activities has also contributed to abnormalities in the sturgeon's reproductive system.

Endangered Species: Tahiti Reed-warbler
The Tahiti reed-warbler ( Acrocephalus caffer) is a songbird found on the Pacific island of Tahiti. It is an endangered species because it has a very small population. The bird is only found on a single island, meaning both its extent of occurrence and area of occupancy are very small.

The Tahiti reed-warbler is also endangered because of human activity. The tropical weed Miconia is a non-native species that has taken over much of Tahiti's native vegetation. The reed-warbler lives almost exclusively in Tahiti's bamboo forests. The bird nests in bamboo and feeds on flowers and insects that live there. As development and invasive species such as Miconia destroy the bamboo forests, the population of Tahiti reed-warblers continues to shrink.

Endangered Species: Ebony
Ebony ( Diospyros crassiflora) is a tree native to the rain forests of central Africa, including Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon. Ebony is an endangered species because many biologists calculate its probability of extinction in the wild is at least 20 percent within five generations.

Ebony is threatened due to overharvesting. Ebony trees produce a very heavy, dark wood. When polished, ebony can be mistaken for black marble or other stone. For centuries, ebony trees have been harvested for furniture and sculptural uses such as chess pieces. Most ebony, however, is harvested to make musical instruments such as piano keys and the fingerboards of stringed instruments.

Critically Endangered Species
1) Population reduction rate
A critically endangered species' population has declined between 80 and 90 percent. This decline is measured over 10 years or three generations of the species, whichever is longer.

A species is classified as critically endangered when its population has declined at least 90 percent and the cause of the decline is known. A species is also classified as endangered when its population has declined at least 80 percent and the cause of the decline is not known.

2) Geographic range
A critically endangered species' extent of occurrence is less than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles). A critically endangered species' area of occupancy is estimated to be less than 10 square kilometers (4 square miles).

3) Population size
A species is classified as critically endangered when there are fewer than 250 mature individuals. A species is also classified as critically endangered when the number of mature individuals declines by at least 25 percent within three years or one generation, whichever is longer.

4) Population restrictions
A species is classified as critically endangered when its population is restricted to less than 50 mature individuals. When a species' population is this low, its area of occupancy is not considered.

5) Probability of extinction in the wild is at least 50 percent within 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer.

Critically Endangered Species: Bolivian Chinchilla Rat
The Bolivian chinchilla rat ( Abrocoma boliviensis) is a rodent found in a small section of the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia. It is critically endangered because its extent of occurrence is less than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles).

The major threat to this species is loss of its cloud forest habitat. People are clearing forests to create cattle pastures.

Critically Endangered Species: Transcaucasian Racerunner
The Transcaucasian racerunner ( Eremias pleskei) is a lizard found on the Armenian Plateau, located in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey. The Transcaucasian racerunner is a critically endangered species because of a huge population decline, estimated at more than 80 percent during the past 10 years.

Threats to this species include the salination, or increased saltiness, of soil. Fertilizers used for agricultural development seep into the soil, increasing its saltiness. Racerunners live in and among the rocks and soil, and cannot adapt to the increased salt in their food and shelter. The racerunner is also losing habitat as people create trash dumps on their area of occupancy.

Critically Endangered Species: White Ferula Mushroom
The white ferula mushroom ( Pleurotus nebrodensis) is a critically endangered species of fungus. The mushroom is critically endangered because its extent of occurrence is less than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles). It is only found in the northern part of the Italian island of Sicily, in the Mediterranean Sea.

The leading threats to white ferula mushrooms are loss of habitat and overharvesting. White ferula mushrooms are a gourmet food item. Farmers and amateur mushroom hunters harvest the fungus for food and profit. The mushrooms can be sold for up to $100 per kilogram (2.2 pounds).

Extinct In The Wild
A species is extinct in the wild when it only survives in cultivation (plants), in captivity (animals), or as a population well outside its established range. A species may be listed as extinct in the wild only after years of surveys have failed to record an individual in its native or expected habitat.

Extinct in the Wild: Scimitar-horned Oryx
The scimitar-horned oryx ( Oryx dammah) is a species of antelope with long horns. Its range extends across northern Africa. The scimitar-horned oryx is listed as extinct in the wild because the last confirmed sighting of one was in 1988. Overhunting and habitat loss, including competition with domestic livestock, are the main reasons for the extinction of the oryx's wild population.

Captive herds are now kept in protected areas of Tunisia, Senegal, and Morocco. Scimitar-horned oryxes are also found in many zoos.

Extinct in the Wild: Black Soft-shell Turtle
The black soft-shell turtle ( Nilssonia nigricans) is a freshwater turtle that exists only in one man-made pond, at the Baizid Bostami Shrine near Chittagong, Bangladesh. The 150 to 300 turtles that live at the pond rely entirely on humans for food. Until 2000, black soft-shell turtles lived throughout the wetlands of the Brahmaputra River, feeding mostly on freshwater fish.

Unlike other animals that are extinct in the wild, black soft-shell turtles are not found in many zoos. The shrine's caretakers do not allow anyone, including scientists, to take the turtles. The reptiles are considered to be the descendants of people who were miraculously turned into turtles by a saint during the 13th century.

Extinct in the Wild: Mt. Kaala Cyanea
The Mt. Kaala cyanea ( Cyanea superba) is a large, flowering tree native to the island of Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The Mt. Kaala cyanea has large, broad leaves and fleshy fruit. The tree is extinct in the wild largely because of invasive species. Non-native plants crowded the cyanea out of its habitat, and non-native animals such as pigs, rats, and slugs ate its fruit more quickly than it could reproduce.

Mt. Kaala cyanea trees survive in tropical nurseries and botanical gardens. Many botanists and conservationists look forward to establishing a new population in the wild.

Extinct
A species is extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last remaining individual of that species has died.

Extinct: Cuban Macaw
The Cuban macaw ( Ara tricolor) was a tropical parrot native to Cuba and a small Cuban island, Isla de la Juventud. Hunting and collecting the birds for pets led to the bird's extinction. The last specimen of the Cuban macaw was collected in 1864.

Extinct: Ridley's Stick Insect
Ridley's stick insect ( Pseudobactricia ridleyi) was native to the tropical jungle of the island of Singapore. This insect, whose long, segmented body resembled a tree limb, is only known through a single specimen, collected more than 100 years ago. During the 20th century, Singapore experienced rapid development. Almost the entire jungle was cleared, depriving the insect of its habitat.

Extinct: Sri Lankan Legume Tree
The Sri Lankan legume tree ( Crudia zeylanica), native only to the island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, was a giant species of legume. Peas and peanuts are smaller types of legumes.

Habitat loss from development in the 20th century is the main reason the tree went extinct in the wild. A single specimen survived at the Royal Botanical Garden in Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, until 1990, when that, too, was lost.

Endangered Species and People
When a species is classified as endangered, governments and international organizations can work to protect it. Laws may limit hunting and destruction of the species' habitat. Individuals and organizations that break these laws may face huge fines. Because of such actions, many species have recovered from their endangered status.

The brown pelican was taken off the endangered species list in 2009, for instance. This seabird is native to the coasts of North America and South America, as well as the islands of the Caribbean Sea. It is the state bird of the U.S. state of Louisiana. In 1970, the number of brown pelicans in the wild was estimated at 10,000. The bird was classified as vulnerable.

During the 1970s and 1980s, governments and conservation groups worked to help the brown pelican recover. Young chicks were reared in hatching sites, then released into the wild. Human access to nesting sites was severely restricted. The pesticide DDT, which damaged the eggs of the brown pelican, was banned. During the 1980s, the number of brown pelicans soared. In 1988, the IUCN "delisted" the brown pelican. The bird, whose population is now in the hundreds of thousands, is now in the category of least concern.

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An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction. Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation.

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This article contains subjects such as how extinction happens, which happens when the earth changes due to either people or natural causes. As well as gives an example of extinction (dinosaurs). I also like the point the author gave in the article about why species become endangered, due to humans disrupting the species habitat and environment making their things needed for survival not accessible.

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catered towards only North America, areas personal towards people because it is in North America. As well as to possibly narrow down the list of animals that will be used for the project. I think there will only be a small/ medium list of what kind endangered species.

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Snails, marmots, condors and coral reef are among the many species on the continent that are close to extinction

smithsonian.com

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Oahu Tree Snails (Achatinella sp.)

When Polynesians arrived at the uninhabited Hawaiian Islands thousands of years ago, they found an array of colorful tree snails, each less than an inch in length, across the island of Oahu. Those little snails-there are 41 species in the genus Achatinella-can now be found only on high ridges of the island's two extinct volcanoes. All the snails in this genus are listed as endangered; many are thought to already be extinct. Their numbers were decimated by a combination of factors, including collectors who wanted the shells, the introduction of nonnative plants and animals, including rats, and loss of the native vegetation-the snails graze on fungus that grows on the leaves of native plants. A conservation project at the University of Hawaii, however, is breeding nine species of Achatinella snails in the lab in an effort to save the creatures.

The Hawaiian Islands, with hundreds of endangered plants and animals, are often called the "Endangered Species Capital of the World." The islands' remote location resulted in the evolution of thousands of species that live nowhere else in the world. That specialness, however, confers an added danger, because once a species disappears from Hawaii, it is usually gone forever. - SZ

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smithsonian.com 1 of 10 When Polynesians arrived at the uninhabited Hawaiian Islands thousands of years ago, they found an array of colorful tree snails, each less than an inch in length, across the island of Oahu. Those little snails-there are 41 species in the genus Achatinella-can now be found only on high ridges of the island's two extinct volcanoes.

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how endangered species are legally listed as ESA (endangered species act). This part is more of the legal stuff that applies to making an endangered species an endangered species. As well as how they are documented to be endangered and what the process of that looks like. There won't be much that comes from this article except more of the logistics of it.

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Listing and Classification | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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We use the best scientific information available to determine whether to add a species to (list) or remove from (delist) the federal lists of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. We also determine whether already listed species should be reclassified from threatened to endangered (uplist) or from endangered to threatened (downlist).

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video of endangered species in north america

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video of endangered species in north america

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o through the list and use the stats for numbers. This source is a video that contains images for what the species looks like and to use for any sightings. This is to have a visual for the audience to see and possibly have more of an effect on them. As well as to hopefully have them want to help with saving the endangered species.

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EBSOhost
I saved this article because the topic of the article is about the U.S. national bird which represents many things to people. It will help with grabbing people's attention about the endangered species of North America that people can relate to. I will be able to use this article to find one way that endangered species become endangered. As well as different ways humans effect species to become endangered. If there are ways humans can protect certain species that are about to become endangered, then how can we help and ways to protect other species in the future.

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ELM is brought to you by your local library or school media center, Minitex, and State Library Services, the MN state library agency, with state appropriations to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Education, and federal LSTA funds under the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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this will be good to use for how the audience should apply this to their lives and pay closer attention. An example the article provided was how poison from a poisonous dart-frog can be used to help treat kidney problems. I think these things people are uninformed about and should be aware of how different species that may seem a threat are not. They help us survive and continue to discover new cures for medical reasons and others.

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While extinction of animal species is part of the natural process of evolution, the expansion of the human species has led to significant increases in the extinction rate. Because humans share ecosystems with endangered species, our quality of life and our survival is linked to them. Habitat destruction, climate change, resource depletion and other factors have increased the extinction rate by a factor of 1,000, putting substantial pressure on thousands of the most vulnerable creatures on the planet.

One example of how the depletion of a species affected humans is what occurred after the American bison nearly vanished in the 19th century. Originally, the bison was a common animal on the central plains, with an estimated population of 15 million, and the Native Americans of the region depended on the animal for food, leather, fur and many other goods vital to a nomadic lifestyle. By 1890, however, there were only a few thousand bison left in America. Tribal hunters were able to kill more of the animals with the aid of firearms, and in some cases the United States government encouraged the widespread slaughter of bison herds. The vanishing species forced tribes dependent on the animal to move to new lands in search of food, and eventually those tribes could no longer support themselves and had to deal with the United States government for survival.

Another species under threat that humans rely on is the common honeybee. Bees are responsible for pollinating more than 250,000 species of plants. However, a malady known as "colony collapse disorder" has wiped out entire populations of the insect, and scientists have yet to discover its true cause. Dwindling bee populations have already forced some growers to import colonies to their fields in order to keep yields up, and continued losses could threaten the supply of crops like almonds, apples and cucumbers. Of the different varieties of crops humans rely upon for food worldwide, 87 rely on pollinators, mainly honeybees, while only 28 different crops could survive without such assistance.

Some species serve as buffers between humans and pathogens that could prove extremely dangerous. The common opossum is resistant to the parasites that cause Lyme disease, but human development and other factors have seen their numbers dwindle in the United States. Other species that have moved in to fill their ecological niche have less resistance to the disease, and as a result, the incidence of Lyme disease among humans in these regions has increased. In some areas of the United States, the incidents of Lyme disease has increased by about 30 percent in the past 20 years. Scientists have also discovered links between the incidence of West Nile virus and hantavirus and local reductions in biodiversity.

Animal extinctions may also rob humans of valuable medical advancements. Many different species have unique bodily processes that can offer insight into curing human disease. The toxins produced by dart-poison frogs in the rain forest, for example, have yielded invaluable information about how alkaloid compounds behave in living organisms. Scientists also study bears for clues about how they recycle blood toxins during hibernation to find potential solutions to kidney disorders. Each species that vanishes may hold the key to any number of medical breakthroughs, and the loss of these resources could prove a terrible blow to humans.

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How Do the Extinctions of Other Creatures Affect Humans Directly?

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While extinction of animal species is part of the natural process of evolution, the expansion of the human species has led to significant increases in the extinction rate. Because humans share ecosystems with endangered species, our quality of life and our survival is linked to them.

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how endangered species effect the environment 

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how endangered species effect the environment 

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can use for how endangered species connect with other problems. As well as how endangered species affects other things in the earth such as the environment and causes towards global warming.

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By Michael Evans - Sun, 29 May 2011 11:02:08 GMT

destruction or interruption of environment, in other words habitat loss;

an alteration in the ecological balance resulting in an increase in predators;

too few remaining members for sustainable breeding.
A study in Nature suggested the without some form of radical change 25% of the world's land animals will become extinct within the next 50 years.

When considering the reasons why so many species are becoming endangered it is important to realise that this is very closely linked to the need to conserve the biodiversity of the planet.

Habitat loss is by far the most widespread cause of species endangerment. Usually this is due to some form of human activity. Forests are cut down to create more land for agriculture or building and coastal marshlands are drained for the same reason. Agricultural activity such as removal of hedgerows and pesticide spraying have removed both habitat and food supply for many species.

It was only after a noticeable decline in numbers of the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon that the use of DDT and other persistent pesticides began to be questioned. When the ecosystem of a species is not maintained, such as the removal of a food supply, the species is forced to adapt to new surroundings or perish.

Pollution is a major disrupter and destroyer of ecosystems and this was graphically illustrated following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This devastated many marine ecosystems and caused the death of countless seabirds and marine creatures.

Overexploitation, such as deepwater trawling has put a number of species of fish at serious risk. This can also have a knock-on effect of removing the food supply of other marine creatures, putting them at risk as a consequence.

Climate change can alter the delicate balance of an ecosystem. Relatively minor changes in temperature can allow some species to thrive, while others perish. More dramatic climate changes can lead to the melting of ice caps and glaciers, with the consequent disruption to the local ecosystems. On a worldwide basis, the resulting rise in sea levels can disrupt the ecosystems of many species, including humans.

Habitat loss can also occur when alien species are introduced into ecosystems, either by chance or by design. In 1918 a ship ran aground on a Pacific island. While the ship was being repaired a number of Black Rats escaped and set up a thriving colony on the island. Within a short time they had wiped out several of the island's native birds and other fauna. The islanders introduced masked owls in an effort to control the rats, but this simple led to the loss of many of the remaining sea birds.

As habitat loss combines with other ecological disruptions, many species find it increasingly difficult to breed. This leads to a gradual decline in numbers until the point is reached where the species is no longer sustainable.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains a Red List of Threatened Species. This is the most comprehensive inventory of the global status of plant and animal species. IUCN calculates that around 40% of the world's organisms are endangered.

The IUCN has a classification system to enable criteria to be set with respect to rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution and the degree of population and distribution fragmentation.

EX - extinct with no individuals remaining; examples include Javan Tiger, Dodo and Woolly Mammoth;

EW - extinct in the wild; only surviving in captivity or in locations outside its historic range; examples include Hawaiian Crow, Socorro Dove and Scimitar Oryx;

CR - critically endangered; extremely high risk of extinction in the wild; examples include Mountain Gorilla, Bactrian Camel, California Condor and White Rhinoceros;

EN - endangered; high risk of extinction in the wild; Blue Whale, Giant Panda, Snow Leopard and Tiger;

VU - vulnerable; high risk of endangerment in the wild; examples include African Elephant, Cheetah, Polar Bear and Hippopotamus;

NT - near threatened; likely to become endangered in the near future; examples include American Bison, Jaguar, Okapi and Tiger Shark;

LC - least concern; lowest risk; no immediate threat to survival; many examples including Giraffe, Brown Bear, Grey Wolf, House Mouse, Emperor Penguin and Human.
NatureServe is a conservation organisation that has its headquarters in the United States, but operates throughout North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. Its prime aim is to make biodiversity a mainstream consideration in all significant conservation and natural resource management decisions. NatureServe is actively engaged with a number of leading international initiatives that promote the development, distribution, and sharing of biodiversity information.

It uses a slightly different scale to define risk of endangerment.

1 = critically imperilled

2 = imperilled

3 = vulnerable

4 = apparently secure

5 = secure
A prefix letter, G, N or S is inserted to indicate whether the risk is global, national or more localised within a particular country. For instance, G3 would indicate that a species was globally vulnerable, but N3 would indicate that it was vulnerable within a particular country, although more secure elsewhere.

It has been claimed in some quarters that maintaining biodiversity in today's world is both costly and time consuming and in short is a waste of time and money. The counter argument is that not only should species be saved for aesthetic and moral reasons, but wild species are also important as providers of products and services essential to human welfare. Many scientific breakthroughs have come from the study of wild organisms.

25% of western pharmaceuticals are derived from ingredients discovered in the tropical rainforests. Vincristine, a drug that has been particularly successful in treating childhood leukaemia, is extracted from the rainforest plant periwinkle.

As the population of the world increases, further demands are placed on its resources. In 2001 it was estimated that world demand for timber would double by 2050. Most of this timber would come from tropical rainforests and already more than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost, along with the ecosystems of the species that it supported.

The goal of conservationists is to find ways to preserve endangered species and maintain biodiversity, especially for those species that are approaching extinction.

Where the reasons for population decline are not immediately evident it is possible to undertake detailed research to investigate the causes. In other cases it is possible to create more awareness of environmental ethics that can help to encourage species preservation, such as the importance of not removing coral.

Where species are very rare and in danger of extinction a programme of captive breeding can be successful. However, it is important to guard against inbreeding since this may result in loss of immunity to disease.

Legal private farming has also proved to be successful in Africa. Where previously poaching was a serious problem, now significant numbers of southern black and southern white rhinoceros are privately owned and there have been substantial increases in the populations of both groups. This is applauded by IUCN since there is now a strong economic incentive to look after the rhinos, whether for reasons of ecotourism or selling for profit.

Salmon farming has already proved to be very successful and there has been some success farming of other species of fish. Over a third of all fish consumed in the United States is now farm raised.

On the one hand this might be seen as a good thing because it takes pressure off the oceans, but there are some unfortunate downsides. Salmon farming is a case in point. Salmon are carnivores and farmed salmon commonly need about three pounds of processed wild fish for every pound of salmon raised. This amounts to about 2 to 3.5 million tons of wild fish to be processed annually.

In addition, an average salmon farm has around 200,000 salmon. Each day these fish produce as much faeces as a town of 62,000 people. This accumul sinks to the seabed generating killer bacteria that consume the oxygen vital to the wild fish that live there. Farmed fish also often escape and can spread diseases that did not previously exist in wild populations.

In short, such farms can be resource-intensive, can cause damage to the environment and bring further danger to already endangered species.

The natural world and the species that inhabit it are vital to us all. Either directly or indirectly our world provides us with clean air, food, water, shelter, energy, soil, medicines, protection from natural disasters, as well as recreation, inspiration, diversity and beauty.

But this is a fragile world. Many its diverse species are in danger of being lost of ever; basically the choice is ours.

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Topics: Endangered Species

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The world has an amazingly diverse number of different species of animal and plant life, but many are in danger of being lost for ever, often as a result of human action. An endangered species is a group of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct.