...Endangered Species Our planet earth has produced many wonderful and bewildering things. Our planet was once lush of vegetation, plants and amazing animals. There are numerous plants and animals that are now extinct, either due to natural selection, climate change, or urbanization. Knowing this, we should not take advantage of what earth has to offer, this includes animals that are now endangered species. According to Richard T. Wright, “endangered species is a species that has been reduced to the point where it is in imminent danger of becoming extinct if protection is not provided (page 254). Although some animals may seem unimportant to most, many of these animals are what help keep the earth’s ecosystem in equilibrium. There is much controversy on endangered species and the devastation of their habitats. Before someone establishes their own opinion on the subject matter, it must be understood what an endangered species is and how it came to be, along with the controversy between it. Endangerment is a very broad issue that involves habitat, the surrounding environment and the interaction between other species. There are many factors that have lead to endangerment and possible extinction to earth’s animals. One of the biggest factors is habitat destruction. Habitats are constantly changing due to the earth’s constant change in climate and movement, although that is only a slight change. The biggest component to habitat destruction is the result from human activity...
Words: 1592 - Pages: 7
...The Moral Obligation Toward Endangered Wild-life George Michael Olivas American Military University Professor Myers PHIL320 Environmental Ethics July 24th 2013 Abstract The moral agency of a man, all the same, looms ambiguously but more so mirroring an image of self—an image contrary to the ethical framework as it ought relate to the natural world. The premise by which we often grant moral importance to Homo sapiens is the mere membership within that group of species. Naturally the premise carries with it little to no weight and is nearly fallacious. Ethicist Peter Singer prompts humanity on the realism that the only other criteria by which to judge for moral consideration is sentience which definitively applies to broader a species. Sentience, as it is theoretical, is inclusive of moral consideration, "The capacity for suffering and enjoying things is a prerequisite for having interests at all, a condition that must be satisfied before we can speak of interests in any meaningful way (Singer, 1974).” The application of industry leaves a footprint in the delicate ecosystems of the earth which normally espouses a plethora of creatures known to regulate the respective biosphere. Far before humanity wandered to and fro the earth, animal life met extinction by natural causes nevertheless our dominance single-handedly exploits the environment and pollutes far worse than any means of naturalism—subjecting animal life into conditions...
Words: 2028 - Pages: 9
...According to our results, there was no significant difference in the height and growth of Wisconsin Fast Plants (Brassica rapa) housed in different soil types. This finding contradicted our expectations since soil is one of the main variables in growth of a plant organism. And we measured the height and growth because impacts on plant growth is a widely used indicator of resistance or sensitivity to the plants environment (Black, 2007). In our planning, we expected that the regular potting soil would result in taller height and faster growth than the other soils. Instructions and guides on growing Wisconsin Fast Plants say to use potting soil as this is the most efficient substrate for the plants growth. Our hypothesis can be rejected in...
Words: 1135 - Pages: 5
...Discuss a solution to the problem of protecting endangered species of flora and fauna Florae purify our environment by performing photosynthesis, and faunae create diversity of our ecosystem. Altogether, they play a significant role in providing us a safe and sound place to live. Unfortunately, in recent years, many endangered species of plants and wildlife are gradually becoming extinct. Without these plants and wildlife, we global citizens will eventually perish. How can we help protect these precious flora and fauna? The solution to the problem lies in governments' measures of building greenhouse and imposing heavy fines for illegal hunting. We always take the diversity of flora and fauna for granted and never appreciate this gift mother nature offers. However, we must immediately change our indifferent attitude towards the conservation of flora and fauna to a positive, responsible one. Governments must allocate budgets on building greenhouses and training botanists, so the endangered species of plants will receive extra care. For instance, the seed conservation research centre established by a group of English botanists work on preserving any kind of seeds and duplicate their genes, so any kind of plants on earth will not be facing extinction. Besides following the steps of these English botanists, governments must also raise the public's awareness of preservation of endangered plants. For example, governments should design advertisements that encourage public...
Words: 448 - Pages: 2
...Poaching of Endangered Species “The main reason for animals endangered is the uncontrolled human activity.” This quote was stated on a website called Animal Port. There are many reasons why this statement is true, one of them are poaching. Poaching occurs out of greed to make money. Although there are several laws to protect certain animals, this is a horrible act to any animal. Especially for the animals that are already endangered. Poachers minimizing these animal’s numbers for their own pleasure is not good. People who are against poaching should do what they can to stop this act from escalating, or there will not be any balance on this world. Animals are being killed every day from illegal hunting or capturing, that is called poaching; it’s getting worse and worse in certain places and we should do whatever we can to try and stop it. Poaching happens all around the world. Mainly in parts of the world where there is more game to hunt and a lot of money involved. A social science graduate from Makerere University Kampala in Uganda named Peter Galyak Magellan said that humans have been hunting for survival for a long time now and not because of pleasure. He stated “While primitive humans relied largely upon hunting for food, the agricultural revolution (approximately 10,000 years ago) reduced the need for survival hunting in most parts of the world. Hunting has continued, however, for several reasons, and poaching remains a possibility wherever hunting is...
Words: 2264 - Pages: 10
...The earth is a vast planet, which is growing and changing every day. Many things are out of our control, but there are also many things that are within our control. People play a direct impact on the environment as well as the wild life. Unfortunately a lot of our negative actions have led to the extinction of various species. Animals can be broken down into three different species, threatened, endangered and extinct. Threatened Species can be defined as a species commonly found in an area, that is at high risk of becoming endangered. "A threatened species may have a declining population or be exceptionally rare. Similar to endangered species, the cause of their decline is based and various factors such as habitat destruction, climate change or the introduction of an invasive species to their natural habitat" (Buchanan,M.). A good example of a Threatened Species is the Loggerhead Turtle. They are found globally, preferring temperate and subtropical waters. Loggerhead turtles and their eggs are hunted extensively in many parts of the world. "However, the main threat is from raccoons and wild boars, they can destroy more than 95 percent of their nests" (Angermeier, P.M). They over growing human population is also a threat. The introduction of strange vegetation by humans creates areas that inhibit egg laying and traps the hatchlings from moving out to sea. Endangered Species are defined as a species that is exists in small enough numbers that it is in the...
Words: 742 - Pages: 3
...Story: Life in the Garden of Captivities. The elephants are being saved from culling by transfer them from Swaziland to Lowry Park Zoo. Similar to the Vancouver Island Marmots, the elephants are also declining as culling continues in Swaziland. Since elephants are intelligent and strong, they tend to destroy their habitat unintentionally. Beside cull practice, there are also others threat that the elephants endure in the wild, such as being shot by the hunters. Thus, by putting these wild animals in the zoos, it would save the elephants from being killed cruelly and from the brink of extinction. Through the effort of saving the elephants, we are also protecting the environment from getting damaged by this animal. The rationale for saving Vancouver Island Marmots and elephants are similar because of their status as endangered species and also because of their lost...
Words: 1049 - Pages: 5
...The U.S. environmental law that I choose is Endangered Species Act. This Act was passed in 1973, to protect the extinction of or threatened species. Before I go any further let me define the difference between extinct and threatened species; • Extinction is the process by which a species die out, this means that all genetic buildup of that species is gone forever. Extinction can be the cause of Natural disaster, from human activities. • Threatened species are living organism that can become endangered in our nearby future. Endangered species represent the living species of plants and animals. That have become scarce, this means that they are in danger of becoming extinct. When an endangered species becomes extinct, this can interrupt the food chain or web. This will interrupts the production of new or improve medicine, we would loss that animal species forever because there is no genetic evidence left of that species. All this would be affected by the extinction of a species. The goal of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 is to prevent extinction from happening. ESA was signed by President Nixon, The extinction of animals and plant species was brought about by Rachel Carson who wrote a book called Silent Spring (1962). Rachel warned about destroying wildlife with DDT in our environment. This is what prompted the enactment of the Endangered Species Preservation Act of (1966). This Act was made to protect nature species that were on the...
Words: 332 - Pages: 2
...2010 Final Paper (Summary of Endangered Species Act) Endangered Species Act “What is an endangered species?” is a question that needs to be addressed before getting known of endangered species act. An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct due to three possible reasons: it is few in numbers. According to the theory of Exponential Growth Curve proposed by Malthus, a lower population tends to have a lower reproductive rate and thus a higher risk of going extinct; or a species is threatened by changing environment. A species which fail to adapt a new environment by means such as mutation which creates new “fitting” genes tends to have a higher risk of going extinct; or it is affected predation parameters. In a community, defined as a group of interacting organisms sharing a populated environment, the population of a species is highly dependent on one another. If the predator population of a species is high, this can limit its reproductive rate and thus the population growth. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an organization which “helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.” (IUCN “About IUCN”)According to one of its reports, the endangered species is 40% of all organisms, which has reached the stage of alarm that endangered species conservation policies must be implemented in no time. IUCN is a leading endangered species act organization...
Words: 1959 - Pages: 8
...Discussion The Ridgway’s Rails, as discussed previously, are a highly endangered species living in saltwater marshes and mangrove swamps in the Bay Area. They are especially important to the tidal marsh ecosystem as they are an indicator of tidal wetland health. If they were to go extinct in Bay Area’s marshes, such as the marshes in the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, naturalists will not be able to tell whether the marsh is healthy or not. (“Clapper Rail”). Without knowing this, the marsh cannot be observed and cared for, resulting in habitat degradation for the Rails and many other endangered species. This infers that the extinction of this one important specie can eventually result in the decline of an entire...
Words: 1820 - Pages: 8
...Endangered species Extinction is actually a normal process in the course of evolution. To date, many species of animals have become extinct rather than the total numbers that exist. These species slowly disappeared because of climatic changes and the inability to adapt to such conditions as competition and predation. Since the 1600s, however, the process of extinction has accelerated rapidly through the impact of both human population growth and technological advances on natural ecosystems. Due to the rapid changing of the environment by fast growing human technology, many animals unable to adapt to these changes fast are dying a relatively fast death. Just to illustrate the degree of loss of species we're facing, let’s take you through one scientific analysis: * The rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. * These experts calculate that between 0.01 and 0.1% of all species will become extinct each year. * If the low estimate of the number of species out there is true - i.e. that there are around 2 million different species on our planet** - then that means between 200 and 2,000 extinctions occur every year. * But if the upper estimate of species numbers is true - that there are 100 million different species co-existing with us on our planet - then between 10,000 and 100,000 species are becoming extinct each year. How you understand, every year...
Words: 449 - Pages: 2
...population is exceptionally important to the sustainability of any ecosystem or environment. The cycle of life shows us that all species have another species that they rely on for several necessities. Some species use other species for sustenance, some for shelter, or hunting skills. The reasons why species rely on each other vary; however, the need is infinitely important. We will discuss why genetic diversity is so important. We will explain why population management and diversity is necessary to the successful survival of every population. Lastly, we will compare and contrast the ex situ and in situ methods of conservation. It is extremely important for humanity to take responsibility for the failings of some ecosystems and this paper allows us to see the ways that we, as humanity, can help to reverse that damage. Genetic Diversity in Populations Genetic diversity also known as the level of biodiversity simply measures the number of genetic characteristics that the genetic makeup of a particular species consists of. It is different from the term genetic variability as they are many times used alternatively but in reality they are different. So why is genetic diversity so important? It is the basis for the populations of various living species to adapt themselves as the surrounding environment changes. If there is no genetic diversity many of the species will vanish off the face of earth. The environment on the earth changes rapidly and hence with the help of genetic diversity...
Words: 2024 - Pages: 9
...First, I decided to do some research on the conservation status of Sea Turtles. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global statuses are classified as followed: • Leatherbacks: Vulnerable • Greens: Endangered • Loggerheads: Endangered • Hawksbills: Critically Endangered • Olive Ridleys: Vulnerable • Kemp’s Ridleys: Critically Endangered Sea Turtles are among the list of top endangered species. Of the seven species, six are considered endangered. Among those six species are the Green Sea Turtles. Several factors have contributed to their rate of extinction. These factors include: climate change, oil spills, unmanaged coastal development, illegal trade, human consumption, and predators. According to the WorldWildlife webpage, “Incidental capture by fishing gear is the greatest threat to most sea turtles, especially endangered loggerheads, greens and leatherbacks. This threat is increasing as fishing activity expands” (wwf.org). Upon my research, I found another surprising factor that is currently contributing to sea turtle extinction. I discovered the article, “Invasive algae, pollution cause lethal tumors on sea turtles”. The lethal tumors have been most prevalent in Hawaii’s Green Sea Turtle Species. The tumors are linked to the invasive algae, “Superweed”. The algae grow along an area, where nutrient pollution is not managed regularly. When the sea turtles consume the invasive algae, the amino acids from the algae stimulate...
Words: 532 - Pages: 3
...so long to define an entire species as extinct, is why we have the ICUN’s endangered animals list. b. Humans are contributing to the loss of these animals in huge ways, but also becoming more aware and trying to help more than ever in previous years. c. The purpose of my speech today is to inform you on a few ways humans are hurting and a few ways humans are helping wildlife. II. Humans are affecting different species in many ways and most for the worse. A. “Habitat loss is probably one of the greatest threats to the variety of life on this planet today.” (WWF) 1. Habitat loss can be in many different forms, like loss of areas populated by different species or mating grounds. Also erosion and vegetation loss can cause lack of shelter and food for animals. 2. One of the biggest areas that is experiencing deforestation is the amazon rainforest because of human settlements and development of the land. B. Pollution is one of the main ways in which humans have caused change and threats to wildlife habitat. 1. Pollution can be defined as the human alteration of chemical or physical characteristics of the environment to a degree that is harmful to living organisms. (marinebio.org) 2. Synthetic chemicals like DDT and dumping waste in to lakes and oceans is one of the main causes of pollution, effecting not only water animals but land animals too. C. Trophy hunting of already endangered or rare animals is also a big problem, although some people believe it is...
Words: 1009 - Pages: 5
...PHILIPPINE FOREST Under our constitution, a forest is legally defined as “that portion of the public domain characterized by a predominant growth of trees or wood species, including nipa, mangrove, and all lands of the public domain not classified as agricultural, industrial, commercial, residential, resettlement, minerals or grazing lands”. It is often said that life comes from the forest. It is an area of land where flora and fauna are present. Types of Philippine Forests: * Dipterocarp Forest Generally, dipterocarp forests are the major source of timber and other forest products. The dominant trees in this type are internationally known as “ Philippine Mahogany” the trade name of commercial woods which are light red to reddish brown in color. The apitong, guijo, lawan, mayapis, tangile and yakal. * Pine Forests Pine forests provide long fibers which are good in making strong material for cement bags, and also provide turpentine for paint manufacture. Pine forests are usually found in mountain region of high altitude, such as in Northern Luzon. * Molave (also called mulawin) They are highly valued for natural beauty and durability. Molave stands frequently in regions of distinct dry limestone ridges. Species that belong to this type are narra, ipil, tindalo, akle,and banuyo. * Mangroves (bakawan) These types of forests occur on tidal flats. They are found along the seacost extending along the streams where the water is brackish (mixed with...
Words: 4854 - Pages: 20
