Endangered Species Of South
America
Endangered species are plant and animal species that are in danger of extinction, the dying off of all individuals of a species. Over 19,000 plant species and 5000 animal species around the globe are classified as endangered, and many thousands more become extinct each year before biologists can identify them (Microsoft 1). The primary cause of species extinction or endangerment are habitat destruction, commercial exploitation, damage caused by non-native plants and animals introduced into an area, and pollution (1). Of these causes, direct habitat destruction threatens the most species.
A steady rate of extinction is a normal process in the course of evolution, and is called ...
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global extinction rate is estimated at about 20,000 species per year, exponentially greater than the background extinction rate (17). Many biologists believe that we are in the middle of the greatest mass extinction episode since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago (18).
The survival of ecosystems (plant and animal communities and their physical surroundings) such as forests, coral reefs, or wetlands depend on their biodiversity or variety of plants, animals, and habitats, as well as the many interactions among these species. The removal or disappearance of one or several species may irreversibly damage the ecosystems and lead to its decline. For example, the undersea kelp forest ecosystems of the northern Pacific Rim are some of the richest marine habitats known - they are the home or breeding ground of many species and other wildlife, such as sea otters. When the sea otter population off the western coast of Canada and the U.S. was hunted almost to ...
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farmland for the impoverished people of Madagascar, and most of the endemic species there - that is, species that live nowhere else - are endangered.
Species become endangered or extinct for a number of reasons, but the primary cause is the destruction of habitat by human activities. As species evolve, most adapt to a specific habitat or environment that best meets their survival needs. Without this habitat the species may not survive. Pollution, drainage of wetlands, conversion of shrub lands to grazing lands, cutting and clearing of forests, urbanization, coral reef destruction, and road and dam construction have destroyed or seriously damaged available habitats (Microsoft 2). ...
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"Endangered Species Of South." Essayworld.com. August 10, 2004. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Endangered-Species-Of-South/12453.
"Endangered Species Of South." Essayworld.com. August 10, 2004. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Endangered-Species-Of-South/12453.
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