laws of endangered species When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973, it recognized that our

rich natural heritage is of esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our Nation and its people. It further expressed concern that many of our nations native plants and animals were in danger of becoming extinct. The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. It is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Commerce Departments National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The FWS has primary responsibility for terrestrial and freshwater organisms, while the responsibilities of NMFS are mainly marine wildlife such as whales and anadromons fish such as salmon. Under the ESA, species may be listed as either endangered or threatened. Endangered means a species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threatened means a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. All species of plants and animals, except pest insects, are eligible for listing as endangered or threatened. For the purposes of the ESA, Congress defined species to include subspecies, varieties, and, for vertebrates, distinct population segments. endangered species information An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species. Many nations have laws offering protection to conservation reliant species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves. Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal protection like Pandas. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice consevation status The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that endangered species not living. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species; not simply the number remaining, but the overall increase or decrease in the population over time, breeding success rates, known threats, and so on.

Internationally,199 countries have signed an accord agreeing to create Biodiversity Action Plans to protect endangered and other threatened species. In the United States this plan is usually called a species Recovery Plan Climate change Before anthropogenic global warming species were subjected mainly to regional pressures, such as overhunting and habitat destruction. With the acceleration of anthropogenic global warming since the industrial revolution, climate change has begun to influence species safety. Nigel Stork, in the article Re-assessing Extinction Rate explains, the key cause of extinction being climate change, and in particular rising temperatures, rather than deforestation alone. Stork believes climate change is the major issue as to why species are becoming endangered. Stork claims rising temperature on a local and global level are making it harder for species to reproduce. As global warming continues, species are no longer able to survive and their kind starts to deteriorate. This is a repeating cycle that is starting to increase at a rapid rate because of climate change therefore landing many species on the endangered species list. [2] Impact on biodiversity and endangered species In order to conserve the biodiversity of the planet, one must take into consideration the reasons why so many species are becoming endangered. Habitat loss is the most widespread cause of species endangerment in the U.S., affecting 85% of imperiled species (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 416). When an animals ecosystem is not maintained, they lose their home and are either forced to adapt to new surroundings or perish. Pollution is another factor that causes many species to become endangered. Also, over-exploitation, disease (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 416), and climate change (Kotiaho et al., 2005, p. 1963) have led to the endangerment of several species. Humans have an impact on the species and their environment. As human use of resources, energy, and space intensified over the past few centuries, the diversity of life has been substantially diminished in most parts of the world (Ishwaran & Erdelen, 2006, p. 179). Humans also set standards for which species they think should be saved and which species they find unimportant or undesirable. For example, the coqui frog, an invasive species in Hawaii, is so common there that its nocturnal singing reduces the value of homes and prevents hotels from using rooms near forests. Hawaiians have proposed eliminating the frog, and several wildlife managers want to release a pathogen to kill the frogs (Minteer & Collins, 2005, p. 333). The frog has decreased the value of homes and caused a loss of business for several hotels, so the Hawaiians decided it was acceptable to get rid of the group of coqui frog living near them.

The importance of maintaining species Diversity of life and living systems are a necessary condition for human development (Ishwaran & Erdelen, 2006, p. 179). Many question the importance of maintaining biodiversity in todays world, where conservation efforts prove costly and time consuming. Species should be saved for aesthetic and moral justifications; the importance of wild species as providers of products and services essential to human welfare; the value of particular species as indicators of environmental health or as keystone species crucial to the functioning of ecosystems; and the scientific breakthroughs that have come from the study of wild organisms (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 418). In other words, species serve as a source of art and entertainment, provide products such as medicine for human well-being, indicate the welfare of the overall environment and ecosystem, and provided research that resulted in scientific discoveries. An example of an aesthetic justification in conserving endangered species is that of the introduction of the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park. The gray wolf has brought numerous amounts of tourists to the park and added to the biodiversity in the protected region (Wilcove & Master, 2008, p. 418). Helping endangered species It is the goal of conservationists to create and expand upon ways to preserve endangered species and maintain biodiversity. There are several ways in which one can aid in preserving the worlds species who are nearing extinction. One such way is obtaining more information on different groups of species, especially invertebrates, fungi, and marine organisms, where sufficient data is lacking. For example, to understand the causes of population declines and extinction an experiment was conducted on the butterfly population in Finland. In this analysis, the butterflies endangered list classification, distribution, density, larval specificity, dispersal ability, adult habitat breadth, flight period and body size were all recorded and examined to determine the threatened state of each species. It was found that the butterflies distribution has declined by fifty-one and a half percent, and they have a severely restricted habitat. One example of specific butterflies who have a declining distribution rate are the Friggas Fritillary and Grizzled Skipper, who have been affected by habitat loss due to extensive draining of the bogs where they live (Kotiaho et al., 2005, p. 1963 1967). This experiment shows that when we know the causes of endangerment, we can successfully create solutions for the management of biodiversity.