essay about biodiversity and species extinction

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Conservation

In defense of biodiversity: why protecting species from extinction matters.

By Carl Safina • February 12, 2018

A number of biologists have recently made the argument that extinction is part of evolution and that saving species need not be a conservation priority. But this revisionist thinking shows a lack of understanding of evolution and an ignorance of the natural world. 

A few years ago, I helped lead a ship-based expedition along south Alaska during which several scientists and noted artists documented and made art from the voluminous plastic trash that washes ashore even there. At Katmai National Park, we packed off several tons of trash from as distant as South Asia. But what made Katmai most memorable was: huge brown bears. Mothers and cubs were out on the flats digging clams. Others were snoozing on dunes. Others were patrolling.

During a rest, several of us were sitting on an enormous drift-log, watching one mother who’d been clamming with three cubs. As the tide flooded the flat, we watched in disbelief as she brought her cubs up to where we were sitting — and stepped up on the log we were on. There was no aggression, no tension; she was relaxed. We gave her some room as she paused on the log, and then she took her cubs past us into a sedge meadow. Because she was so calm, I felt no fear. I felt the gift.

In this protected refuge, bears could afford a generous view of humans. Whoever protected this land certainly had my gratitude.

In the early 20th century, a botanist named Robert F. Griggs discovered Katmai’s volcanic “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.” In love with the area, he spearheaded efforts to preserve the region’s wonders and wildlife. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson established Katmai National Monument (now Katmai National Park and Preserve ), protecting 1,700 square miles, thus ensuring a home for bear cubs born a century later, and making possible my indelible experience that day. As a legacy for Griggs’ proclivity to share his love of living things, George Washington University later established the Robert F. Griggs Chair in Biology.

That chair is now occupied by a young professor whose recent writing probably has Griggs spinning in his grave. He is R. Alexander Pyron . A few months ago,  The Washington Post published a “ Perspective” piece by Pyron that is an extreme example of a growing minority opinion in the conservation community, one that might be summarized as, “Humans are profoundly altering the planet, so let’s just make peace with the degradation of the natural world.” 

No biologist is entitled to butcher the scientific fundamentals on which they hang their opinions.

Pyron’s essay – with lines such as, “The only reason we should conserve biodiversity is for ourselves, to create a stable future for human beings” and “[T]he impulse to conserve for conservation’s sake has taken on an unthinking, unsupported, unnecessary urgency” – left the impression that it was written in a conservative think tank, perhaps by one of the anti-regulatory zealots now filling posts throughout the Trump administration. Pyron’s sentiments weren’t merely oddly out of keeping with the legacy of the man whose name graces his job title. Much of what Pyron wrote is scientifically inaccurate. And where he stepped out of his field into ethics, what he wrote was conceptually confused.

Pyron has since posted, on his website and Facebook page, 1,100 words of frantic backpedaling that land somewhere between apology and retraction, including mea culpas that he “sensationalized” parts of his own argument and “cavalierly glossed over several complex issues.” But Pyron’s original essay and his muddled apology do not change the fact that the beliefs he expressed reflect a disturbing trend that has taken hold among segments of the conservation community. And his article comes at a time when conservation is being assailed from other quarters, with a half-century of federal protections of land being rolled back, the Endangered Species Act now more endangered than ever, and the relationship between extinction and evolution being subjected to confused, book-length mistreatment.

Pyron’s original opinion piece, so clear and unequivocal in its assertions, is a good place to unpack and disentangle accelerating misconceptions about the “desirability” of extinction that are starting to pop up like hallucinogenic mushrooms.

In recent years, some biologists and writers have been distancing themselves from conservation’s bedrock idea that in an increasingly human-dominated world we must find ways to protect and perpetuate natural beauty, wild places, and the living endowment of the planet. In their stead, we are offered visions of human-dominated landscapes in which the stresses of destruction and fragmentation spur evolution. 

White rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ). Source: Herman Pijpers/ Flickr

Conservation International ditched its exuberant tropical forest graphic for  a new corporate logo  whose circle and line were designed to suggest a human head and outstretched arms. A few years ago, Peter Kareiva, then chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy,  said , “conservationists will have to jettison their idealized notions of nature, parks, and wilderness,” for  “a more optimistic, human-friendly vision.” Human annihilation of the passenger pigeon, he wrote, caused “no catastrophic or even measurable effects,” characterizing the total extinction of the hemisphere’s most abundant bird — whose population went from billions to zero inside a century (certainly a “measurable effect” in itself) — as an example of nature’s “resilience.”

British ecologist Chris Thomas’s recent book, Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction, argues that the destruction of nature creates opportunities for evolution of new lifeforms that counterbalance any losses we create, an idea that is certainly optimistic considering the burgeoning lists of endangered species. Are we really ready to consider that disappearing rhinos are somehow counterbalanced by a new subspecies of daisy in a railroad track? Maybe it would be simpler if Thomas and his comrades just said, “We don’t care about nature.’’

Enter Pyron, who — at least in his initial essay — basically said he doesn’t. He’s entitled to his apathy, but no biologist is entitled to butcher the scientific fundamentals on which they hang their opinions.

Pyron began with a resonant story about his nocturnal rediscovery of a South American frog that had been thought recently extinct. He and colleagues collected several that, he reassured us, “are now breeding safely in captivity.” As we breathed a sigh of relief, Pyron added, “But they will go extinct one day, and the world will be none the poorer for it.” 

The conviction that today’s slides toward mass extinction are not inevitable spurred the founding of the conservation movement.

I happen to be writing this in the Peruvian Amazon, having just returned from a night walk to a light-trap where I helped a biologist collect moths. No one yet knows how many species live here. Moths are important pollinators. Knowing them helps detangle a little bit of how this rainforest works. So it’s a good night to mention that the number of species in an area carries the technical term “species richness.” More is richer, and fewer is, indeed, poorer. Pyron’s view lies outside scientific consensus and societal values. 

Pyron wasn’t concerned about his frogs going extinct, because, “Eventually, they will be replaced by a dozen or a hundred new species that evolve later.” But the timescale would be millennia at best — meaningless in human terms — and perhaps never; hundreds of amphibians worldwide are suffering declines and extinctions, raising the possibility that major lineages and whole groups of species will vanish. Pyron seemed to have no concerns about that possibility, writing, “Mass extinctions periodically wipe out up to 95 percent of all species in one fell swoop; these come every 50 million to 100 million years.”

But that’s misleading. “Periodically” implies regularity. There’s no regularity to mass extinctions. Not in their timing, nor in their causes. The mass extinctions are not related. Three causes of mass extinctions — prolonged worldwide atmosphere-altering volcanic eruptions; a dinosaur-snuffing asteroid hit; and the spreading agriculture, settlement, and sheer human appetite driving extinctions today — are unrelated.

Rio Pescado stubfoot toad ( Atelopus balios ). Source: De Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios/ Flickr

The conviction that today’s slides toward mass extinction are not inevitable, and could be lessened or avoided, spurred the founding of the conservation movement and created the discipline of conservation biology.

But Pyron seems unmoved. “Extinction is the engine of evolution, the mechanism by which natural selection prunes the poorly adapted and allows the hardiest to flourish,” he declared. “Species constantly go extinct, and every species that is alive today will one day follow suit. There is no such thing as an ‘endangered species,’ except for all species.”

Let us unpack. Extinction is not evolution’s driver; survival is. The engine of evolution is survival amidst competition. It’s a little like what drives innovation in business. To see this, let’s simply compare the species diversity of the Northern Hemisphere, where periodic ice sheets largely wiped the slate clean, with those of the tropics, where the evolutionary time clock continued running throughout. A couple of acres in eastern temperate North America might have a dozen tree species or fewer. In the Amazon a similar area can have 300 tree species. All of North American has 1,400 species of trees; Brazil has 8,800. All of North America has just over 900 birds; Colombia has 1,900 species. All of North America has 722 butterfly species. Where I am right now, along the Tambopata River in Peru, biologists have tallied around 1,200 butterfly species.

Competition among living species drives proliferation into diversified specialties. Specialists increasingly exploit narrowing niches. We can think of this as a marketplace of life, where little competition necessitates little specialization, thus little proliferation. An area with many types of trees, for instance, directly causes the evolution of many types of highly specialized pollinating insects, hummingbirds, and pollinating bats, who visit only the “right” trees. Many flowering plants are pollinated by just one specialized species.

Pyron muddles several kinds of extinctions, then serves up further misunderstanding of how evolution works. So let’s clarify. Mass extinctions are global; they involve the whole planet. There have been five mass extinctions and we’ve created a sixth . Past mass extinctions happened when the entire planet became more hostile. Regional wipeouts, as occurred during the ice ages, are not considered mass extinctions, even though many species can go extinct. Even without these major upheavals there are always a few species blinking out due to environmental changes or new competitors. And there are pseudo-extinctions where old forms no longer exist, but only because their descendants have changed through time. 

New species do not suddenly “arise,” nor are they really new. They evolve from existing species, as population gene pools change.

Crucially for understanding the relationship between extinction and evolution is this: New species do not suddenly “arise,” nor are they really new. New species evolve from existing species, as population gene pools change. Many “extinct” species never really died out; they just changed into what lives now. Not all the dinosaurs went extinct; theropod dinosaurs survived. They no longer exist because they evolved into what we call birds. Australopithecines no longer exist, but they did not all go extinct. Their children morphed into the genus Homo, and the tool- and fire-making Homo erectus may well have survived to become us. If they indeed are our direct ancestor — as some species was — they are gone now, but no more “extinct” than our own childhood. All species come from ancestors, in lineages that have survived.

Pyron’s contention that the “hardiest” flourish is a common misconception. A sloth needs to be slow; a faster sloth is going to wind up as dinner in a harpy eagle nest. A white bear is not “hardier” than a brown one; the same white fur that provides camouflage in a snowy place will scare away prey in green meadow. Bears with genes for white fur flourished in the Arctic, while brown bears did well amidst tundra and forests. Polar bears evolved from brown bears of the tundra; they got so specialized that they separated, then specialized further. Becoming a species is a process, not an event. “New” species are simply specialized descendants of old species.

True extinctions beget nothing. Humans have recently sped the extinction rate by about a thousand times compared to the fossil record. The fact that the extinction of dinosaurs was followed, over tens of millions of years, by a proliferation of mammals, is irrelevant to present-day decisions about rhinos, elephant populations, or monarch butterflies. Pyron’s statement, “There is no such thing as an ‘endangered species,’ except for all species,” is like saying there are no endangered children except for all children. It’s like answering “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter.” It’s a way of intentionally missing the point. 

Chestnut-sided warbler ( Setophaga pensylvanica ). Source: Francesco Veronesi/ Wikimedia

Here’s the point: All life today represents non-extinctions; each species, every living individual, is part of a lineage that has not gone extinct in a billion years.

Pyron also expressed the opinion that “the only reason we should conserve biodiversity is for ourselves …” I don’t know of another biologist who shares this opinion. Pyron’s statement makes little practical sense, because reducing the diversity and abundance of the living world will rob human generations of choices, as values change. Save the passenger pigeon? Too late for that. Whales? A few people acted in time to keep most of them. Elephants? Our descendants will either revile or revere us for what we do while we have the planet’s reins in our hands for a few minutes. We are each newly arrived and temporary tourists on this planet, yet we find ourselves custodians of the world for all people yet unborn. A little humility, and forbearance, might comport.

Thus Pyron’s most jarring assertion: “Extinction does not carry moral significance, even when we have caused it.” That statement is a stranger to thousands of years of philosophy on moral agency and reveals an ignorance of human moral thinking. Moral agency issues from an ability to consider consequences. Humans are the species most capable of such consideration. Thus many philosophers consider humans the only creatures capable of acting as moral agents. An asteroid strike, despite its consequences, has no moral significance. Protecting bears by declaring Katmai National Monument, or un-protecting Bears Ears National Monument, are acts of moral agency. Ending genetic lineages millions of years old, either actively or by the willful neglect that Pyron advocates, certainly qualifies as morally significant.

Do we really wish a world with only what we “rely on for food and shelter?” Do animals have no value if we don’t eat them?

How can we even decide which species we “directly depend’’ upon? We don’t directly depend on peacocks or housecats, leopards or leopard frogs, humpback whales or hummingbirds or chestnut-sided warblers or millions of others. Do we really wish a world with only what we “rely on for food and shelter,” as Pyron seemed to advocate? Do animals have no value if we don’t eat them? I happen not to view my dogs as food, for instance. Things we “rely on” make life possible, sure, but the things we don’t need make life worthwhile.

When Pyron wrote, “Conservation is needed for ourselves and only ourselves… If this means fewer dazzling species, fewer unspoiled forests, less untamed wilderness, so be it,” he expressed a dereliction of the love, fascination, and perspective that motivates the practice of biology.

Here is a real biologist, Alfred Russell Wallace, co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection:

I thought of the long ages of the past during which the successive generations of these things of beauty had run their course … with no intelligent eye to gaze upon their loveliness, to all appearances such a wanton waste of beauty… . This consideration must surely tell us that all living things were not made for man… . Their happiness and enjoyments, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone. —The Malay Archipelago, 1869

At the opposite pole of Wallace’s human insight and wonder, Pyron asked us to become complicit in extinction. “The goals of species conservation have to be aligned with the acceptance that large numbers of animals will go extinct,” he asserted. “Thirty to 40 percent of species may be  threatened  with extinction in the near future, and their loss may be inevitable. But both the planet and humanity can probably survive or even thrive in a world with fewer species … The species that we rely on for food and shelter are a tiny proportion of total biodiversity, and most humans live in — and rely on — areas of only moderate biodiversity, not the Amazon or the Congo Basin.”

African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ). Source: Flowcomm/ Flickr

Right now, in the Amazon as I type, listening to nocturnal birds and bugs and frogs in this towering emerald cathedral of life, thinking such as Pyron’s strikes me as failing to grasp both the living world and the human spirit. 

The massive destruction that Pyron seems to so cavalierly accept isn’t necessary. When I was a kid, there were no ospreys, no bald eagles, no peregrine falcons left around New York City and Long Island where I lived. DDT and other hard pesticides were erasing them from the world. A small handful of passionate people sued to get those pesticides banned, others began breeding captive falcons for later release, and one biologist brought osprey eggs to nests of toxically infertile parents to keep faltering populations on life support. These projects succeeded. All three of these species have recovered spectacularly and now again nest near my Long Island home. Extinction wasn’t a cost of progress; it was an unnecessary cost of carelessness. Humans could work around the needs of these birds, and these creatures could exist around development. But it took some thinking, some hard work, and some tinkering.

It’s not that anyone thinks humans have not greatly changed the world, or will stop changing it. Rather, as the great wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold wrote in his 1949 classic A Sand County Almanac , “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”

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12: Biodiversity and The Extinction Crisis

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Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Shark fins in Hong Kong. by Cloneofsnake, CC-BY-SA 2.0

Sharks are declining rapidly on a global scale because humans have replaced them as the ocean's top predators. One way that humans hunt sharks is by using a practice called  shark finning . This is the process of slicing off a shark’s fin and discarding the rest of the still-living body, often by dumping it back into the ocean. Shark fins are tempting targets for fishermen because they have high monetary and cultural value. They are used in a popular dish called shark fin soup, which is a symbol of status in Chinese culture. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed globally each year, and one of the major incentives for this is the shark fin trade. With their slow growth and low reproductive rates, sharks are highly susceptible to extinction, and it is difficult for many shark species to replenish their populations as quickly as they are being diminished.

Biodiversity loss refers to the reduction of biodiversity due to displacement or extinction of species. The loss of a particular individual species may seem unimportant to some, especially if it is not a charismatic species like the Bengal tiger or the bottlenose dolphin. However, biologists estimate that species extinctions are currently many times higher the normal, or background, rate seen previously in Earth’s history. This translates to the loss of tens of thousands of species within our lifetimes. This is likely to have dramatic effects on human welfare through the collapse of ecosystems. Loss of biodiversity may have reverberating consequences on ecosystems because of the complex interrelations among species. For example, the extinction of one species may cause the extinction of another. To measure biodiversity loss, scientists assess which species are at risk of extinction as well as survey ecosystem decline.

Learning Objectives

• Define biodiversity
• Describe types and patterns of biodiversity. 
• List reasons why biodiversity is important.
• Explain how biodiversity has changed over Earth's history. 
• Compare the current rate of global extinctions to the average rate observed in the geological record.
• Discuss how species are classified into categories based on their extinction risk.
• 12.1: Value of Biodiversity Biodiversity is important to the survival and welfare of human populations because it has impacts on our health and our ability to feed ourselves through agriculture and harvesting populations of wild animals. Measuring biodiversity on a large scale involves measuring ecosystem diversity (the number of different ecosystems on Earth), Species diversity (the number of different species in a particular area and their relative abundance), and genetic diversity (a measure of the variability among ind
• 12.2: Patterns of Biodiversity Biogeography, the study of the past and present distribution of species around the world, reveals high species richness in the tropics. Most of the world's biodiversity hotspots, which have high species richness and risk of species loss, are concentrated in the tropics. These regions also have many endemic species, which are occur occur locally.
• 12.3: Extinction Extinction is the global loss of a species. Five mass extinctions have occurred in geological history, and extinction rates were particular high during these events. Earth is currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction, which is driven by human activities. When mass extinctions are not occurring, extinction still occurs at a low rate, the background extinction rate. The local elimination of a species (extirpation) is also of conservation concern.
• 12.4: Measures of Biodiversity Loss A common means of assessing biodiversity loss involves classifying species based on extinction risk. The Red List includes nine such categories. The species at greatest risk of extinction are called critically endangered, followed by endangered, vulnerable, and near threatened species. Biodiversity can also be gauged at the ecosystem level, both in terms of area and ecosystem diversity.

November 1, 2023

21 min read

Can We Save Every Species from Extinction?

The Endangered Species Act requires that every U.S. plant and animal be saved from extinction, but after 50 years, we have to do much more to prevent a biodiversity crisis

By Robert Kunzig

Snail Darter Percina tanasi. Listed as Endangered: 1975. Status: Delisted in 2022.

© Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

A Bald Eagle disappeared into the trees on the far bank of the Tennessee River just as the two researchers at the bow of our modest motorboat began hauling in the trawl net. Eagles have rebounded so well that it's unusual not to see one here these days, Warren Stiles of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told me as the net got closer. On an almost cloudless spring morning in the 50th year of the Endangered Species Act, only a third of a mile downstream from the Tennessee Valley Authority's big Nickajack Dam, we were searching for one of the ESA's more notorious beneficiaries: the Snail Darter. A few months earlier Stiles and the FWS had decided that, like the Bald Eagle, the little fish no longer belonged on the ESA's endangered species list. We were hoping to catch the first nonendangered specimen.

Dave Matthews, a TVA biologist, helped Stiles empty the trawl. Bits of wood and rock spilled onto the deck, along with a Common Logperch maybe six inches long. So did an even smaller fish; a hair over two inches, it had alternating vertical bands of dark and light brown, each flecked with the other color, a pattern that would have made it hard to see against the gravelly river bottom. It was a Snail Darter in its second year, Matthews said, not yet full-grown.

Everybody loves a Bald Eagle. There is much less consensus about the Snail Darter. Yet it epitomizes the main controversy still swirling around the ESA, signed into law on December 28, 1973, by President Richard Nixon: Can we save all the obscure species of this world, and should we even try, if they get in the way of human imperatives? The TVA didn't think so in the 1970s, when the plight of the Snail Darter—an early entry on the endangered species list—temporarily stopped the agency from completing a huge dam. When the U.S. attorney general argued the TVA's case before the Supreme Court with the aim of sidestepping the law, he waved a jar that held a dead, preserved Snail Darter in front of the nine judges in black robes, seeking to convey its insignificance.

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Now I was looking at a living specimen. It darted around the bottom of a white bucket, bonking its nose against the side and delicately fluttering the translucent fins that swept back toward its tail.

“It's kind of cute,” I said.

Matthews laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “I like this guy!” he said. “Most people are like, ‘Really? That's it?’ ” He took a picture of the fish and clipped a sliver off its tail fin for DNA analysis but left it otherwise unharmed. Then he had me pour it back into the river. The next trawl, a few miles downstream, brought up seven more specimens.

In the late 1970s the Snail Darter seemed confined to a single stretch of a single tributary of the Tennessee River, the Little Tennessee, and to be doomed by the TVA's ill-considered Tellico Dam, which was being built on the tributary. The first step on its twisting path to recovery came in 1978, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, surprisingly, that the ESA gave the darter priority even over an almost finished dam. “It was when the government stood up and said, ‘Every species matters, and we meant it when we said we're going to protect every species under the Endangered Species Act,’” says Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Listed as Endangered: 1967. Status: Delisted in 2007. Credit: © Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

Today the Snail Darter can be found along 400 miles of the river's main stem and multiple tributaries. ESA enforcement has saved dozens of other species from extinction. Bald Eagles, American Alligators and Peregrine Falcons are just a few of the roughly 60 species that had recovered enough to be “delisted” by late 2023.

And yet the U.S., like the planet as a whole, faces a growing biodiversity crisis. Less than 6 percent of the animals and plants ever placed on the list have been delisted; many of the rest have made scant progress toward recovery. What's more, the list is far from complete: roughly a third of all vertebrates and vascular plants in the U.S. are vulnerable to extinction, says Bruce Stein, chief scientist at the National Wildlife Federation. Populations are falling even for species that aren't yet in danger. “There are a third fewer birds flying around now than in the 1970s,” Stein says. We're much less likely to see a White-throated Sparrow or a Red-winged Blackbird, for example, even though neither species is yet endangered.

The U.S. is far emptier of wildlife sights and sounds than it was 50 years ago, primarily because habitat—forests, grasslands, rivers—has been relentlessly appropriated for human purposes. The ESA was never designed to stop that trend, any more than it is equipped to deal with the next massive threat to wildlife: climate change. Nevertheless, its many proponents say, it is a powerful, foresightful law that we could implement more wisely and effectively, perhaps especially to foster stewardship among private landowners. And modest new measures, such as the Recovering America's Wildlife Act—a bill with bipartisan support—could further protect flora and fauna.

That is, if special interests don't flout the law. After the 1978 Supreme Court decision, Congress passed a special exemption to the ESA allowing the TVA to complete the Tellico Dam. The Snail Darter managed to survive because the TVA transplanted some of the fish from the Little Tennessee, because remnant populations turned up elsewhere in the Tennessee Valley, and because local rivers and streams slowly became less polluted following the 1972 Clean Water Act, which helped fish rebound.

Under pressure from people enforcing the ESA, the TVA also changed the way it managed its dams throughout the valley. It started aerating the depths of its reservoirs, in some places by injecting oxygen. It began releasing water from the dams more regularly to maintain a minimum flow that sweeps silt off the river bottom, exposing the clean gravel that Snail Darters need to lay their eggs and feed on snails. The river system “is acting more like a real river,” Matthews says. Basically, the TVA started considering the needs of wildlife, which is really what the ESA requires. “The Endangered Species Act works,” Matthews says. “With just a little bit of help, [wildlife] can recover.”

The trouble is that many animals and plants aren't getting that help—because government resources are too limited, because private landowners are alienated by the ESA instead of engaged with it, and because as a nation the U.S. has never fully committed to the ESA's essence. Instead, for half a century, the law has been one more thing that polarizes people's thinking.

I t may seem impossible today to imagine the political consensus that prevailed on environmental matters in 1973. The U.S. Senate approved the ESA unanimously, and the House passed it by a vote of 390 to 12. “Some people have referred to it as almost a statement of religion coming out of the Congress,” says Gary Frazer, who as assistant director for ecological services at the FWS has been overseeing the act's implementation for nearly 25 years.

Gopher Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus . Listed as Threatened: 1987. Status: Still threatened. Credit: ©Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

But loss of faith began five years later with the Snail Darter case. Congresspeople who had been thinking of eagles, bears and Whooping Cranes when they passed the ESA, and had not fully appreciated the reach of the sweeping language they had approved, were disabused by the Supreme Court. It found that the legislation had created, “wisely or not ... an absolute duty to preserve all endangered species,” Chief Justice Warren E. Burger said after the Snail Darter case concluded. Even a recently discovered tiny fish had to be saved, “whatever the cost,” he wrote in the decision.

Was that wise? For both environmentalists such as Curry and many nonenvironmentalists, the answer has always been absolutely. The ESA “is the basic Bill of Rights for species other than ourselves,” says National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, who is building a “photo ark” of every animal visible to the naked eye as a record against extinction. (He has taken studio portraits of 15,000 species so far.) But to critics, the Snail Darter decision always defied common sense. They thought it was “crazy,” says Michael Bean, a leading ESA expert, now retired from the Environmental Defense Fund. “That dichotomy of view has remained with us for the past 45 years.”

According to veteran Washington, D.C., environmental attorney Lowell E. Baier, author of a new history called The Codex of the Endangered Species Act, both the act itself and its early implementation reflected a top-down, federal “command-and-control mentality” that still breeds resentment. FWS field agents in the early days often saw themselves as combat biologists enforcing the act's prohibitions. After the Northern Spotted Owl's listing got tangled up in a bitter 1990s conflict over logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, the FWS became more flexible in working out arrangements. “But the dark mythology of the first 20 years continues in the minds of much of America,” Baier says.

Credit: June Minju Kim ( map ); Source: David Matthews, Tennessee Valley Authority ( reference )

The law can impose real burdens on landowners. Before doing anything that might “harass” or “harm” an endangered species, including modifying its habitat, they need to get a permit from the FWS and present a “habitat conservation plan.” Prosecutions aren't common, because evidence can be elusive, but what Bean calls “the cloud of uncertainty” surrounding what landowners can and cannot do can be distressing.

Requirements the ESA places on federal agencies such as the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management—or on the TVA—can have large economic impacts. Section 7 of the act prohibits agencies from taking, permitting or funding any action that is likely to “jeopardize the continued existence” of a listed species. If jeopardy seems possible, the agency must consult with the FWS first (or the National Marine Fisheries Service for marine species) and seek alternative plans.

“When people talk about how the ESA stops projects, they've been talking about section 7,” says conservation biologist Jacob Malcom. The Northern Spotted Owl is a strong example: an economic analysis suggests the logging restrictions eliminated thousands of timber-industry jobs, fueling conservative arguments that the ESA harms humans and economic growth.

In recent decades, however, that view has been based “on anecdote, not evidence,” Malcom claims. At Defenders of Wildlife, where he worked until 2022 (he's now at the U.S. Department of the Interior), he and his colleagues analyzed 88,290 consultations between the FWS and other agencies from 2008 to 2015. “Zero projects were stopped,” Malcom says. His group also found that federal agencies were only rarely taking the active measures to recover a species that section 7 requires—like what the TVA did for the Snail Darter. For many listed species, the FWS does not even have recovery plans.

Endangered species also might not recover because “most species are not receiving protection until they have reached dangerously low population sizes,” according to a 2022 study by Erich K. Eberhard of Columbia University and his colleagues. Most listings occur only after the FWS has been petitioned or sued by an environmental group—often the Center for Biological Diversity, which claims credit for 742 listings. Years may go by between petition and listing, during which time the species' population dwindles. Noah Greenwald, the center's endangered species director, thinks the FWS avoids listings to avoid controversy—that it has internalized opposition to the ESA.

He and other experts also say that work regarding endangered species is drastically underfunded. As more species are listed, the funding per species declines. “Congress hasn't come to grips with the biodiversity crisis,” says Baier, who lobbies lawmakers regularly. “When you talk to them about biodiversity, their eyes glaze over.” Just this year federal lawmakers enacted a special provision exempting the Mountain Valley Pipeline from the ESA and other challenges, much as Congress had exempted the Tellico Dam. Environmentalists say the gas pipeline, running from West Virginia to Virginia, threatens the Candy Darter, a colorful small fish. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provided a rare bit of good news: it granted the FWS $62.5 million to hire more biologists to prepare recovery plans.

The ESA is often likened to an emergency room for species: overcrowded and understaffed, it has somehow managed to keep patients alive, but it doesn't do much more. The law contains no mandate to restore ecosystems to health even though it recognizes such work as essential for thriving wildlife. “Its goal is to make things better, but its tools are designed to keep things from getting worse,” Bean says. Its ability to do even that will be severely tested in coming decades by threats it was never designed to confront.

T he ESA requires a species to be listed as “threatened” if it might be in danger of extinction in the “foreseeable future.” The foreseeable future will be warmer. Rising average temperatures are a problem, but higher heat extremes are a bigger threat, according to a 2020 study.

Scientists have named climate change as the main cause of only a few extinctions worldwide. But experts expect that number to surge. Climate change has been “a factor in almost every species we've listed in at least the past 15 years,” Frazer says. Yet scientists struggle to forecast whether individual species can “persist in place or shift in space”—as Stein and his co-authors put it in a recent paper—or will be unable to adapt at all and will go extinct. On June 30 the FWS issued a new rule that will make it easier to move species outside their historical range—a practice it once forbade except in extreme circumstances.

Credit: June Minju Kim ( graphic ); Brown Bird Design ( illustrations ); Sources: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System; U.S. Federal Endangered and Threatened Species by Calendar Year https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-listings-by-year-totals ( annual data through 2022 ); Listed Species Summary (Boxscore) https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/boxscore ( cumulative data up to September 18, 2023, and annual data for coral ); Delisted Species https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/species-delisted ( delisted data through 2022 )

Eventually, though, “climate change is going to swamp the ESA,” says J. B. Ruhl, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, who has been writing about the problem for decades. “As more and more species are threatened, I don't know what the agency does with that.” To offer a practical answer, in a 2008 paper he urged the FWS to aggressively identify the species most at risk and not waste resources on ones that seem sure to expire.

Yet when I asked Frazer which urgent issues were commanding his attention right now, his first thought wasn't climate; it was renewable energy. “Renewable energy is going to leave a big footprint on the planet and on our country,” he says, some of it threatening plants and animals if not implemented well. “The Inflation Reduction Act is going to lead to an explosion of more wind and solar across the landscape.

Long before President Joe Biden signed that landmark law, conflicts were proliferating: Desert Tortoise versus solar farms in the Mojave Desert, Golden Eagles versus wind farms in Wyoming, Tiehm's Buckwheat (a little desert flower) versus lithium mining in Nevada. The mine case is a close parallel to that of Snail Darters versus the Tellico Dam. The flower, listed as endangered just last year, grows on only a few acres of mountainside in western Nevada, right where a mining company wants to extract lithium. The Center for Biological Diversity has led the fight to save it. Elsewhere in Nevada people have used the ESA to stop, for the moment, a proposed geothermal plant that might threaten the two-inch Dixie Valley Toad, discovered in 2017 and also declared endangered last year.

Does an absolute duty to preserve all endangered species make sense in such places? In a recent essay entitled “A Time for Triage,” Columbia law professor Michael Gerrard argues that “the environmental community has trade-off denial. We don't recognize that it's too late to preserve everything we consider precious.” In his view, given the urgency of building the infrastructure to fight climate change, we need to be willing to let a species go after we've done our best to save it. Environmental lawyers adept at challenging fossil-fuel projects, using the ESA and other statutes, should consider holding their fire against renewable installations. “Just because you have bullets doesn't mean you shoot them in every direction,” Gerrard says. “You pick your targets.” In the long run, he and others argue, climate change poses a bigger threat to wildlife than wind turbines and solar farms do.

For now habitat loss remains the overwhelming threat. What's truly needed to preserve the U.S.'s wondrous biodiversity, both Stein and Ruhl say, is a national network of conserved ecosystems. That won't be built with our present politics. But two more practical initiatives might help.

The first is the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, which narrowly missed passage in 2022 and has been reintroduced this year. It builds on the success of the 1937 Pittman-Robertson Act, which funds state wildlife agencies through a federal excise tax on guns and ammunition. That law was adopted to address a decline in game species that had hunters alarmed. The state refuges and other programs it funded are why deer, ducks and Wild Turkeys are no longer scarce.

The recovery act would provide $1.3 billion a year to states and nearly $100 million to Native American tribes to conserve nongame species. It has bipartisan support, in part, Stein says, because it would help arrest the decline of a species before the ESA's “regulatory hammer” falls. Although it would be a large boost to state wildlife budgets, the funding would be a rounding error in federal spending. But last year Congress couldn't agree on how to pay for the measure. Passage “would be a really big deal for nature,” Curry says.

Oyster Mussel. Epioblasma capsaeformis.  Listed as Endangered: 1997. Status: Still endangered. Credit: © Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

The second initiative that could promote species conservation is already underway: bringing landowners into the fold. Most wildlife habitat east of the Rocky Mountains is on private land. That's also where habitat loss is happening fastest. Some experts say conservation isn't likely to succeed unless the FWS works more collaboratively with landowners, adding carrots to the ESA's regulatory stick. Bean has long promoted the idea, including when he worked at the Interior Department from 2009 to early 2017. The approach started, he says, with the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

When the ESA was passed, there were fewer than 10,000 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers left of the millions that had once lived in the Southeast. Humans had cut down the old pine trees, chiefly Longleaf Pine, that the birds excavate cavities in for roosting and nesting. An appropriate tree has to be large, at least 60 to 80 years old, and there aren't many like that left. The longleaf forest, which once carpeted up to 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas, has been reduced to less than three million acres of fragments.

In the 1980s the ESA wasn't helping because it provided little incentive to preserve forest on private land. In fact, Bean says, it did the opposite: landowners would sometimes clear-cut potential woodpecker habitat just to avoid the law's constraints. The woodpecker population continued to drop until the 1990s. That's when Bean and his Environmental Defense Fund colleagues persuaded the FWS to adopt “safe-harbor agreements” as a simple solution. An agreement promised landowners that if they let pines grow older or took other woodpecker-friendly measures, they wouldn't be punished; they remained free to decide later to cut the forest back to the baseline condition it had been in when the agreement was signed.

That modest carrot was inducement enough to quiet the chainsaws in some places. “The downward trends have been reversed,” Bean says. “In places like South Carolina, where they have literally hundreds of thousands of acres of privately owned forest enrolled, Red-cockaded Woodpecker numbers have shot up dramatically.”

The woodpecker is still endangered. It still needs help. Because there aren't enough old pines, land managers are inserting lined, artificial cavities into younger trees and sometimes moving birds into them to expand the population. They are also using prescribed fires or power tools to keep the longleaf understory open and grassy, the way fires set by lightning or Indigenous people once kept it and the way the woodpeckers like it. Most of this work is taking place, and most Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are still living, on state or federal land such as military bases. But a lot more longleaf must be restored to get the birds delisted, which means collaborating with private landowners, who own 80 percent of the habitat.

Leo Miranda-Castro, who retired last December as director of the FWS's southeast region, says the collaborative approach took hold at regional headquarters in Atlanta in 2010. The Center for Biological Diversity had dropped a “mega petition” demanding that the FWS consider 404 new species for listing. The volume would have been “overwhelming,” Miranda-Castro says. “That's when we decided, ‘Hey, we cannot do this in the traditional way.’ The fear of listing so many species was a catalyst” to look for cases where conservation work might make a listing unnecessary.

An agreement affecting the Gopher Tortoise shows what is possible. Like the woodpeckers, it is adapted to open-canopied longleaf forests, where it basks in the sun, feeds on herbaceous plants and digs deep burrows in the sandy soil. The tortoise is a keystone species: more than 300 other animals, including snakes, foxes and skunks, shelter in its burrows. But its numbers have been declining for decades.

Urbanization is the main threat to the tortoises, but timberland can be managed in a way that leaves room for them. Eager to keep the species off the list, timber companies, which own 20 million acres in its range, agreed to figure out how to do that—above all by returning fire to the landscape and keeping the canopy open. One timber company, Resource Management Service, said it would restore Longleaf Pine on about 3,700 acres in the Florida panhandle, perhaps expanding to 200,000 acres eventually. It even offered to bring other endangered species onto its land, which delighted Miranda-Castro: “I had never heard about that happening before.” Last fall the FWS announced that the tortoise didn't need to be listed in most of its range.

Miranda-Castro now directs Conservation Without Conflict, an organization that seeks to foster conversation and negotiation in settings where the ESA has more often generated litigation. “For the first 50 years the stick has been used the most,” Miranda-Castro says. “For the next 50 years we're going to be using the carrots way more.” On his own farm outside Fort Moore, Ga., he grows Longleaf Pine—and Gopher Tortoises are benefiting.

Whooping Crane. Grus americana.  Listed as Endangered: 1967. Status: Still endangered. Credit: © Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark

The Center for Biological Diversity doubts that carrots alone will save the reptile. It points out that the FWS's own models show small subpopulations vanishing over the next few decades and the total population falling by nearly a third. In August 2023 it filed suit against the FWS, demanding the Gopher Tortoise be listed.

The FWS itself resorted to the stick this year when it listed the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, a bird whose grassland home in the Southern Plains has long been encroached on by agriculture and the energy industry. The Senate promptly voted to overturn that listing, but President Biden promised to veto that measure if it passes the House.

B ehind the debates over strategy lurks the vexing question: Can we save all species? The answer is no. Extinctions will keep happening. In 2021 the FWS proposed to delist 23 more species—not because they had recovered but because they hadn't been seen in decades and were presumed gone. There is a difference, though, between acknowledging the reality of extinction and deliberately deciding to let a species go. Some people are willing to do the latter; others are not. Bean thinks a person's view has a lot to do with how much they've been exposed to wildlife, especially as a child.

Zygmunt Plater, a professor emeritus at Boston College Law School, was the attorney in the 1978 Snail Darter case, fighting for hundreds of farmers whose land would be submerged by the Tellico Dam. At one point in the proceedings Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., asked him, “What purpose is served, if any, by these little darters? Are they used for food?” Plater thinks creatures such as the darter alert us to the threat our actions pose to them and to ourselves. They prompt us to consider alternatives.

The ESA aims to save species, but for that to happen, ecosystems have to be preserved. Protecting the Northern Spotted Owl has saved at least a small fraction of old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest. Concern about the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the Gopher Tortoise is aiding the preservation of longleaf forests in the Southeast. The Snail Darter wasn't enough to stop the Tellico Dam, which drowned historic Cherokee sites and 300 farms, mostly for real estate development. But after the controversy, the presence of a couple of endangered mussels did help dissuade the TVA from completing yet another dam, on the Duck River in central Tennessee. That river is now recognized as one of the most biodiverse in North America.

The ESA forced states to take stock of the wildlife they harbored, says Jim Williams, who as a young biologist with the FWS was responsible for listing both the Snail Darter and mussels in the Duck River. Williams grew up in Alabama, where I live. “We didn't know what the hell we had,” he says. “People started looking around and found all sorts of new species.” Many were mussels and little fish. In a 2002 survey, Stein found that Alabama ranked fifth among U.S. states in species diversity. It also ranks second-highest for extinctions; of the 23 extinct species the FWS recently proposed for delisting, eight were mussels, and seven of those were found in Alabama.

One morning this past spring, at a cabin on the banks of Shoal Creek in northern Alabama, I attended a kind of jamboree of local freshwater biologists. At the center of the action, in the shade of a second-floor deck, sat Sartore. He had come to board more species onto his photo ark, and the biologists—most of them from the TVA—were only too glad to help, fanning out to collect critters to be decanted into Sartore's narrow, flood-lit aquarium. He sat hunched before it, a black cloth draped over his head and camera, snapping away like a fashion photographer, occasionally directing whoever was available to prod whatever animal was in the tank into a more artful pose.

As I watched, he photographed a striated darter that didn't yet have a name, a Yellow Bass, an Orangefin Shiner and a giant crayfish discovered in 2011 in the very creek we were at. Sartore's goal is to help people who never meet such creatures feel the weight of extinction—and to have a worthy remembrance of the animals if they do vanish from Earth.

With TVA biologist Todd Amacker, I walked down to the creek and sat on the bank. Amacker is a mussel specialist, following in Williams's footsteps. As his colleagues waded in the shoals with nets, he gave me a quick primer on mussel reproduction. Their peculiar antics made me care even more about their survival.

There are hundreds of freshwater mussel species, Amacker explained, and almost every one tricks a particular species of fish into raising its larvae. The Wavy-rayed Lampmussel, for example, extrudes part of its flesh in the shape of a minnow to lure black bass—and then squirts larvae into the bass's open mouth so they can latch on to its gills and fatten on its blood. Another mussel dangles its larvae at the end of a yard-long fishing line of mucus. The Duck River Darter Snapper—a member of a genus that has already lost most of its species to extinction—lures and then clamps its shell shut on the head of a hapless fish, inoculating it with larvae. “You can't make this up,” Amacker said. Each relationship has evolved over the ages in a particular place.

The small band of biologists who are trying to cultivate the endangered mussels in labs must figure out which fish a particular mussel needs. It's the type of tedious trial-and-error work conservation biologists call “heroic,” the kind that helped to save California Condors and Whooping Cranes. Except these mussels are eyeless, brainless, little brown creatures that few people have ever heard of.

For most mussels, conditions are better now than half a century ago, Amacker said. But some are so rare it's hard to imagine they can be saved. I asked Amacker whether it was worth the effort or whether we just need to accept that we must let some species go. The catch in his voice almost made me regret the question.

“I'm not going to tell you it's not worth the effort,” he said. “It's more that there's no hope for them.” He paused, then collected himself. “Who are we to be the ones responsible for letting a species die?” he went on. “They've been around so long. That's not my answer as a biologist; that's my answer as a human. Who are we to make it happen?”

Robert Kunzig is a freelance writer in Birmingham, Ala., and a former senior editor at National Geographic, Discover and Scientific American .

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We’re Living Through One of the Most Explosive Extinction Episodes Ever

By Henry M. Paulson Jr.

Mr. Paulson is chairman of the Paulson Institute, which last year published a major study on closing the global biodiversity funding gap. He is also a past Treasury secretary, Goldman Sachs chairman and former board chairman of The Nature Conservancy.

Twin crises afflict the natural world. The first is climate change. Its causes and potentially catastrophic consequences are well known. The second crisis has received much less attention and is less understood but still requires urgent attention by global policymakers. It is the collapse of biodiversity, the sum of all things living on the planet.

As species disappear and the complex relationships between living things and systems become frayed and broken, the growing damage to the world’s biodiversity presents dire risks to human societies.

The extinction of plants and animals is accelerating, moving an estimated 1,000 times faster than natural rates before humans emerged. Bugs on our windshields are no longer a summer thing as insect populations plummet. Nearly three billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970, diminishing the pollination of food crops. In India, thousands of people are dying of rabies because the population of vultures that feed on garbage is cratering, resulting in a huge increase in feral dogs that eat these food scraps in the birds’ absence.

This past week, federal wildlife officials, as if underscoring the point, recommended that 22 animals and one plant be declared extinct. They include 11 birds, eight freshwater mussels, two fish and a bat.

This is a future where zoonotic diseases are becoming increasingly common and the world’s food security is imperiled .

Climate change and biodiversity loss are locked together in a cycle of destruction and must be dealt with in tandem. The demise of the world’s coral reefs offers an example. Scientists predict that 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs will disappear over the next 20 years because of warming sea temperatures, acidic water and pollution. This will put at risk 4,000 species of fish and approximately a half billion people globally who depend on coral reef ecosystems for food, coastal protection and employment. Damage to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef alone could cost $1 billion a year in income from tourism spending and 10,000 jobs.

The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the window is closing fast to avoid the worst climate outcomes. But the biodiversity crisis is even more immediate, and at least as alarming. With climate change, we have a plausible, if imperfect, strategy to avoid the worst outcomes. The world needs to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by around 2050 by reducing emissions and taking carbon out of the atmosphere.

But for the biodiversity crisis, there is no comparable framework. There are no technological fixes to restore species that go extinct. And no cost-effective, man-made replacement for natural systems like wetlands, which provide protection against floods, replenish groundwater reserves and filter the water that flows through them. Worse, some climate change solutions exacerbate biodiversity destruction. For example, the push to expand renewable energy infrastructure on federal lands would clear managed land and ultimately destroy habitats . Addressing the climate and biodiversity together could improve the outcomes of both.

This fall, policymakers have two opportunities to act on biodiversity before it’s too late at the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and at a virtual U.N. biodiversity conference.

First, government and business leaders should take a Hippocratic-like oath to protect the environment. Such a commitment should encompass investment decisions, business practices and government spending, including subsidies to industry.

Governments are now measuring carbon dioxide emissions and setting goals and policies to reduce them. Similarly, governments must develop strategies to protect the natural biosphere. Those who harm nature should be penalized; those who protect it should be rewarded.

The range of tools includes approaches that generate funding for ecological restoration, like user fees paid by tanker ships and policies that promote market-based systems to protect wetlands and forests. And just as the Paris Agreement called for the disclosure of climate risks, leaders in Glasgow should call for mandating corporate disclosure of the impacts of their actions on biodiversity.

In the United States, subsidies for the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries that accelerate the destruction of our natural capital must be reformed. This value of nature to humans has been estimated at more than $125 trillion. It makes no sense, for instance, to encourage practices that jeopardize our long-term food supply.

Governments must also create incentives to drive private-sector finance to protect and restore nature because the financial resources the private sector can bring to bear far exceed those of the public sector.

The Glasgow climate conference should encourage all governments to invest in nature-based solutions to climate change. Conserving and restoring grasslands, wetlands and forests as “carbon sinks” that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could provide up to a third of the emissions reductions needed by 2030.

Nature’s benefits are too often regarded as “free.” This is a dangerous path. It is much less costly to protect and conserve nature than it is to restore it or suffer the consequences of its destruction.

There is a clear economic, health and climate case for protecting nature. But just as important, there is an overwhelming case for preserving nature for its own sake. It is a source of much that is good about life — beauty, inspiration, innovation and intellectual curiosity.

The world is in the midst of one of the most explosive extinction episodes in history. But we are also undergoing a cultural transformation in awareness. I’ve seen a new sense of urgency around nature conservation issues, a rapidly growing interest in the field of green and sustainable finance, and a renewed sense that collective effort can make a difference. The combination of these forces has the potential to galvanize the world.

Henry Paulson is the founder and chairman of the Paulson Institute, which seeks to foster a cooperative relationship between the United States and China. He was Treasury secretary from 2006 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. Before that, he was chairman and the chief executive of Goldman Sachs. He also served as board chairman for The Nature Conservancy.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Preventing Extinction: Strategies for Protecting Endangered Species

Biodiversity is at a higher risk of extinction than ever before, and there is an urgent need to prevent global extinction. Endangered species are endangered by deforestation, climate change, and human intrusion. There is a need for comprehensive policies that will protect these vulnerable animals and stabilize our ecosystem immediately. By thinking outside the box, we can improve our conservation efforts to address the many risks that life on Earth faces. Let’s discuss strategies that ensure that extinction does not occur.

Climate Change

Everything ranging from climate to the life of different species is affected by global warming. In this respect, endangered species have an extra challenge for survival. Let’s think about how the changing weather hinders attempts to protect and even save them in some instances.

Habitat Disruption

One thing that climate change does is disrupts natural habitats. The living places of endangered species can be greatly altered by increasing temperatures and changing climatic conditions. Consequently, they may lose their homes, which makes it difficult for them to find food, mate, or complete their daily routine. As a result, preserving endangered species becomes much more challenging when they are inhabiting shifting landscapes.

Mismatched Timing

Climate change may alter the timing of certain events critical to species’ survival. For instance, temperature changes and seasonal shifts can affect flowering time for plants or migration periods for some animals. Non-alignment of these shifts with specific requirements of endangered species messes up their cycle of life. This incongruity makes it harder for individuals of such species to hunt and reproduce as well as nurse young ones, which further stresses already strained populations.

Limited Resources

Climate change has far-reaching effects beyond temperature and precipitation; it also affects resource availability. Changing rainfall patterns, water sources, and availability of food can make it hard for any endangered animal to find what they need in order to survive. However, this becomes much more complicated when underpinning climatic factors cease to be uniform or predictable like before, thus making conservation efforts intricate for these creatures that rely on them.

Effective Strategies for Preventing Extinction

To preserve the balance of our planet’s ecosystems, it is crucial that we prevent extinction. When species disappear, this interrupts the natural arrangement and changes everything from food chains to climate control. What is urgent is biodiversity conservation in order to ensure the survival of different species and ultimately ensure a sustainable future for our planet.

Science, Policy, and Public Engagement

Efficient strategies for preventing extinction are multifaceted as they encompass science, policy, and public engagement. Scientists have a central role in studying endangered species and their habitats and developing ways of conserving them. At the same time, strong policies are required to enforce protective measures and regulate human activities that contribute to endangerment. Engaging the public helps create awareness among the people concerning these issues, thus making them a community concern.

Preserving Habitat

Preventing extinction starts with preserving natural habitats. Many species face severe threats due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. It is important that any efforts geared at conserving these environments prioritize their protection as well as restoration to guarantee that the threatened species can get enough space, resources, and conditions needed for survival. Safeguarding space will become a savior to numerous plants on Earth as well as animals that face imminent risk of extinction.

Collaboration on a Global Scale

Extinction shall be prevented by global collaboration. Many of these endangered animals cross borders, necessitating international cooperation in their preservation. Knowledge sharing on a global scale enhances the impact of conservation initiatives through pooling together resources and expertise from various parts of the world; for global collaboration, actions such as collaborations, agreements, and partnerships are established since all countries should be against extinction, showing how responsibility is shared among nations and communities globally.

Innovative Conservation Technologies

Innovative conservation technologies offer a glimmer of hope in the face of saving the earth’s biodiversity. These front-line solutions channel scientific and technological advancements to address issues that are faced by animals under threat of extinction. Let’s go on and see how these innovations shape the future of conservation.

Drones Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring

Drones, which were initially used for aerial photography and delivery purposes, are now changing wildlife monitoring. These unmanned aircraft provide a view from above in remote habitats, making it easier for scientists to follow elusive species. From counting populations to tracking habitats, drones provide a non-invasive and efficient way to acquire important data for conservation purposes.

Preserving Biodiversity through Genetic Conservation

Gene tools are essential to conservationists for biodiversity preservation. These advanced genetic techniques help to safeguard the gene pool of endangered species. By understanding and maintaining unique genetic differences among populations, we can improve the survival chances of threatened species under ever-changing ecological conditions.

Remote Sensing

Satellite remote sensing allows scientists to monitor areas such as inaccessibility or endangered status. This technology helps assess changes in the environment, deforestation, and habitat loss, thereby providing critical information needed for effective planning and timely intervention aimed at protecting vulnerable ecosystems.

Empowering Individuals in Conservation Efforts

Also, innovation has led to citizen science initiatives that enable people to take part in environmental conservation. People can increasingly report observations about rare species and environmental change through mobile apps or websites. Apart from improving data collection, it also creates shared responsibility among people concerning maintaining diverse ecosystems within our planet.

Automated Bioacoustic Monitoring Devices

Nature’s detectives refer to automated bioacoustic monitoring devices that listen to the sounds made by wild animals so as to understand their behaviors. These devices have been improved technologically such that they can detect and analyze animal noises, thereby giving important information on species distribution, abundance, and even welfare. They use these gadgets to “listen” to nature, hence conserving biodiversity.

The Role of Camera Traps

Camera traps are like silent guardians in the wild that capture fleeting glimpses of wildlife without disrupting their natural habitats. Pictures or videos are taken whenever an animal crosses this device with motion detectors. The figures enable scientists to see into the secret lives of animals, thus helping them study behavior and population dynamics or even detect rare or endangered species in human-uninhabited areas.

Challenges and Future Prospects

Nevertheless, there are challenges like accessibility, affordability, and ethical concerns that must be solved if these technologies will ever reach their full potential. Overcoming such challenges while ensuring widespread access with responsible use marks the future of innovative conservation technologies. Constantly improving technology and being ethical in practice is key to enhancing the effects of these innovations on the ongoing fight to save our planet’s rich biodiversity.

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REPORTS, ARTICLES AND RESEARCH PAPERS

Endangered species.

    • Paving the Road to Extinction: Congress’ Expanded Assault on Endangered Species Through Appropriations Poison-Pill Riders .Kurose, S., and Hartl, B., Center for Biological Diversity, January 2024.     • Recovery of the Grizzly Bear at the Intersection of Law and Science . Greenwald, N. August 2023.     • No Refuge: How America’s National Wildlife Refuges Are Needlessly Sprayed With Nearly Half a Million Pounds of Pesticides Each Year . Connor, H. May 2018.     • Mexico's 10 Most Iconic Endangered Species . Olivera, A. April 2018.      • A Wall in the Wild: The Disastrous Impacts of Trump's Border Wall on Wildlife . Greenwald, N., Segee, B., Curry, T. and Bradley, C. May 2017.      • Pollinators in Peril: A Systematic Status Review of North American and Hawaiian Native Bees . Kopec, K., Center for biological Diversity, February 2017.      • Removing the Walls to Recovery: Top 10 Species Priorities for a New Administration. Endangered Species Coalition (including the Center). December 2016.      • Shortchanged: Funding Needed to Save America's Most Endangered Species . Greenwald, N., Hartl, , B., Mehrhoff, L., Pang, J. December 2016.      • Taxa, Petitioning Agency, and Lawsuits Affect Time Spent Awaiting Listing Under the US Endangered Species Act . Greenwald, N., Kesler, D., Puckett, E. Biological Conservation . September 2016.      • Fishing Down Nutrients on Coral Reefs . Allgeier, J.E., Valdivia,A., Cox, C. & Layman, C.A. Nature Communications . August 2016.      • A Wild Success: A Systematic Review of Bird Recovery Under the Endangered Species Act . Suckling, K., Mehrhoff, L., 2016. Beam, R. & Hartl, B. June 2016.      • Poisoned Waters: How Cyanide Fishing and the Aquarium Trade Are Devastating Coral Reefs and Tropical Fish . Center for Biological Diversity & For the Fishes. June 2016.     • Lethal Loophole: How the Obama Administration Is Increasingly Allowing Special Interests to Endanger Rare Wildlife . Sanerib, T., Elkins, C., and Greenwald, N. February 2016.     • Biodiversity on the Brink: The Role of “Assisted Migration" in Managing Endangered Species Threatened With Rising Seas . Lopez, J. Harvard Environmental Law Review Vol. 39. 2015.     • Politics of Extinction: The Unprecedented Republican Attack on Endangered Species and the Endangered Species Act . Pand, J., and Greenwald, N. July 2015.     • Runaway Risks: Oil Trains and the Government's Failure to Protect People, Wildlife and the Environments . Margolis, J., 2015.     • Sea-Level Rise and Species Survival along the Florida Coast . Lopez, J. 2014.     • Collision Course: The Government's Failing System for Protecting Florida Manatees from Deadly Boat Strikes . Center for Biological Diversity. September 2014.      • Nourished by Wildfire: The Ecological Benefits of the Rim Fire and the Threat of Salvage Logging . Center for Biological Diversity and John Muir Projejct, January 2014.      • Deadly Waters: How Rising Seas Threaten 233 Endangered Species . Center for Biological Diversity. 2013.     • In Harm's Way: How the U.S. State Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Have Ignored the Dangers of the Keystone XL Pipeline to Endangered Species . Burd, L., Greenwald, N., & Bradley, C., 2013.     • Dying for Protection: The 10 Most Vulnerable, Least Protected Amphibians and Reptiles in the United States . Adkins Giese, C. 2013.     • On Thin Ice: After Five Years on the Endangered Species List, Polar Bears Still Face a Troubling Future . Center for Biological Diversity. 2013.     • A Poor Track Record, but a Chance to Excel . Snape, W., 2013. The Environmental FORUM   Environmental Law Institute, www.eli.org ) 30(1): 53.     • Can A Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan Save San Diego's Vulnerable Vernal Pool Species? Buse, J., 2012. Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal 6(1): 52-80.     • On Time, On Target: How the Endangered Species Act Is Saving America's Wildlife . Suckling, K., Greenwald, N., Curry, T. 2012.     • Protecting Rare Amphibians Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act . Adkins Giese, C., FrogLog (May 2012): 21-23.     • White-nose Syndrome Headed to a Cave Near You . Matteson, M. Desert Report (June 2011): 6-7.     • Impact of Dunes Sagebrush Lizard on Oil and Gas Activities in New Mexico . Lininger, J. & Bradley, C., 2011.    • Assessing Protection for Imperiled Species of Nevada, U.S.A.: Are Species Slipping Through the Cracks of Existing Protections? Bradley, C. & Greenwald, N., 2008.     • Not Too Late to Save the Polar Bear: A Rapid Action Plan to Address the Arctic Meltdown . Siegel, K., Cummings, B., Moritz, A. & Nowicki, B., 2007.     • Status of the Bald Eagle in the Lower 48 States and the District of Columbia: 1963-2007 . Suckling, K. & Hodges, W., 2007.     • The Bureaucratically Imperiled Mexican Wolf . Povilitis, A., Parsons, D.R., Robinson, M.J., & Becker, C.D., 2006.     • A Review of Northern Goshawk Habitat Selection in the Home Range and Implications for Forest Management in the Western United States . Greenwald, D. N., Crocker-Bedford, C., Broberg, l., & Suckling, K., 2005.     • Suitable Habitat for Jaguars in New Mexico . Robinson, M., Bradley, C., Boyd, J., 2005.     • Impacts of the 2003 Southern California Wildfires on Four Species Listed as Threatened or Endangered Under the Federal Endangered Species Act: Quino Checkerspot Butterfly, Mountain Yellow-legged Frog, Coastal California Gnatcatcher, Least Bell's Vireo . Bond, M. & Bradley, C., 2003.     • A Conservation Alternative for the Management of the Four Southern California National Forests (Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland) . Penrod, K., et al., 2002.     • Analysis of Compliance by U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Region with Incidental Take Statements Issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Three Biological Opinions of 1999 . Taylor, M. 2001.

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

   • Taxa, Petitioning Agency, and Lawsuits Affect Time Spent Awaiting Listing Under the US Endangered Species Act . Greenwald, N., Kesler, D., Puckett, E. Biological Conservation . September 2016.     • A Wild Success: A Systematic Review of Bird Recovery Under the Endangered Species Act . Suckling, K., Mehrhoff, L., Beam, R. & Hartl, B. June 2016.     • Saving Species and Wild Spaces: 10 Extraordinary Places Saved by the Endangered Species Act , Pang, J. & Hartl, B. May 2016.     • Politics of Extinction: The Unprecedented Republican Attack on Endangered Species and the Endangered Species Act . Pang, J., and Greenwald, N. July 2015.     • A Different Perspective on the Endangered Species Act at 40 Responding to Damien M. Schiff . Buse, J., 2015. University of California, Davis 38(1): 145-166.     • Making Room for Wolf Recovery: The Case for Maintaining Endangered Species Act Protections for America's Wolves . Weiss, A., Greenwald, N. & Bradey, C. Center for Biological Diversity, November 2014.     • A Wild Success: American Voices on the Endangered Species Act at 40 . Center for Biological Diversity, Endangered Species Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, February 2014.     • On Time, On Target: How the Endangered Species Act Is Saving America's Wildlife . Suckling, K., Greenwald, N., Curry, T., 2012.     • A Future for All: A Blueprint for Strengthening the Endangered Species Act . 2011.     • Effects on Species' Conservation of Reinterpreting the Phrase “Significant Portion of its Range” in the U.S. Endangered Species Act . Greenwald, N., 2009. Conservation Biology 23(6): 1375-1377.     • State Endangered Species Acts . In Baur, D.C. & Irvin, W.R. (eds.), Endangered Species Act: Law, Policy, and Perspectives , second edition. American Bar Association. George, S. & Snape, W., 2010.     • Politicizing Extinction: The Bush Administration's Dangerous Approach to Endangered Wildlife . Greenwald, N., 2007.     • Measuring the Success of the Endangered Species Act, Recovery Trends in the Northeastern United States . Suckling, K.F., 2006.     • Factors Affecting the Rate and Taxonomy of Species Listings under the US Endangered Species Act . In Gobel, D, Scott, M.J. & Davis, F.W. (eds.), The Endangered Species Act at Thirty: Renewing the Conservation Commitment . Island Press. Greenwald, D.N., Suckling, K.F. & Taylor, M.F.J., 2006.     • Critical Habitat and Recovery . In: Gobel, D., Scott, M.J. & Davis, F.W. (eds.), The Endangered Species Act at Thirty: Renewing the Conservation Commitmen t. Island Press. Suckling, K.F. & Taylor, M.F.J., 2006.     • The Listing Record . In Gobel, D., Scott, M.J., & Davis, F.W. (eds.), The Endangered Species Act at Thirty: Renewing the Conservation Commitmen t. Island Press. Greenwald, D.N., K.F. Suckling and M.F.J. Taylor, 2006.      • Progress or Extinction? A Systematic Review of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Act Listing Program. 1974-2004 . Greenwald, D. N. & Suckling, K. F., 2005     • The Effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act: A Quantitative Analysis . Taylor, M.F.J., Suckling, K.F. & Rachlinski, J.J., 2005. BioScience 55(4): 360-367.     • Extinction and the Endangered Species Act . Suckling, K., Nowicki, B. & Slack, R., 2004.     • A Review of the Bush Critical Habitat Record . 2003.     • Bush Administration Attacks Endangered Species Act .     • Safeguarding Citizen Rights Under the Endangered Species Act . Senatore, M., & Suckling, K., 2001.

BIODIVERSITY

    • Hidden In Plain Sight: California's Native Habitats Are Valuable Carbon Sinks . Yap, T., Prabhala, A., Anderson, I. Center for Biological Diversity. July 2023.     • Bullfrogs: A Trojan Horse for a Deadly Fungus? Yap, T., Koo, M., Ambrose, R., Vredenburg, V.T. Science Journal for Kids . October 2018.     • Mexico's 10 Most Iconic Endangered Species . Olivera, A. April 2018.     • A Multi-method Approach to Delineate and Validate Migratory Corridors . Bond, M., Bradley, C., Kiffner, C., Morrison, T., and Lee, D. Landscape Ecology . May 2017.    • Biodiversity on the Brink: The Role of “Assisted Migration" in Managing Endangered Species Threatened With Rising Seas . Lopez, J. Harvard Environmental Law Review Vol. 39. 2015.    • Nourished by Wildfire: The Ecological Benefits of the Rim Fire and the Threat of Salvage Logging . Center for Biological Diversity and John Muir Projejct, January 2014.    • Joining the Convention on Biological Diversity: A Legal and Scientific Overview of Why the United States Must Wake Up . Snape, B., 2010. Sustainable Development Law & Policy 10(3): 6-18.    • Highways to Hell: A Critical Examination of the Environmental Impacts of the Security and Prosperity Partnership . Lopez, J., 2009. [3 MB version]    • Rana Aurora (Northern Red-legged Frog) Egg Mass Disturbance. Curry, T. R., and Hayes, M. P., 2009. Herpetological Review 40(2): 208-209.    • Greenwashing Risks to Baby-boomers Abroad: An Assessment of Available Strategies to Address “Green” Marketing Misrepresentation to U.S. Retiree Real Estate Investors Overseas. 2009.    • Life History Diversity and Protection of the Southwestern Washington/Columbia River Distinct Population Segment of the Coastal Cutthroat Trout . Greenwald, N. & Mashuda, S., 2008.     • Predation on the Coastal Tailed Frog ( Ascaphus truei ) by a Shrew ( Sorex spp.) in Washington State . Lund, E., Hayes, M., Curry, T., Marsten, J. & Young, 2008. Northwestern Naturalist 89(3): 200-202.     • Assessing Protection for Imperiled Species of Nevada, U.S.A.: Are Species Slipping Through the Cracks of Existing Protections? Greenwald, N. & Bradley, C., 2008.     • Medicinal Plants at Risk — Nature's Pharmacy, Our Treasure Chest: Why We Must Preserve Our Natural Heritage . Roberson, E., 2008.     • Species of Concern of the Tillamook Rainforest and North Coast, Oregon . Greenwald, N. & Garty, A., 2007.     • The Bering Sea: A Biodiversity Assessment of Vertebrate Species . Greenwald, N., Callimanis, S., Garty, A. & Peters, E., 2006.     • Saving All the Parts: Protecting Species of Northwest Old-growth Forests . Greenwald, N. & Greason, S., 2004.     • Imperiled Western Trout and the Importance of Roadless Areas . 2001.     • A Conservation Alternative for the Management of the Four Southern California National Forests (Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland) . Penrod, K., et al., 2002.     • Principles of Wildlife Corridor Design . Bond, M., 2003.

    • A  Wall  of  Lights  Through the Wild: 1,800 Stadium Lights on Arizona Conservation Lands Threaten Wildlife . McSpadden, R., Jordahl, L., and Bradley, C. Center for Biological Diversity. June 2023.     • Hidden In Plain Sight: California's Native Habitats Are Valuable Carbon Sinks . Yap, T., Prabhala, A., Anderson, I. Center for Biological Diversity. July 2023.     • Deadpool Highway: How Interstate 11 Would Worsen Arizona’s Water Crisis . McSpadden, R., and Bradley, C. Center for Biological Diversity. May 2023.     • State of Utom River 2022: Challenges, Opportunities for Southern California’s Signature River . Center for Biological Diversity. August 2022.     • A Wall in the Wild: The Disastrous Impacts of Trump's Border Wall on Wildlife . Greenwald, N., Segee, B., Curry, T. and Bradley, C. May 2017.     • A Multi-Method Approach to Delineate and Validate Migratory Corridors . Bond, M., Bradley, C., Kiffner, C., Morrison, T., and Lee, D. Landscape Ecology . May 2017.     • Public Lands Enemies: 15 Federal Lawmakers Plotting to Seize, Destroy and Privatize America's Public Lands . Spivak, R. & Beam, R. March 2017.     • Runaway Risks: Oil Trains and the Government's Failure to Protect People, Wildlife and the Environments . Margolis, J., 2015.     • Nourished by Wildfire: The Ecological Benefits of the Rim Fire and the Threat of Salvage Logging . Center for Biological Diversity and John Muir Projejct, January 2014.     • Groups Join Together to Confront Water-rights Issue . Mrowka, R. Desert Report (June 2011): 2, 13.     • Saving Our National Legacy: The Future of America's Last Heritage Forests . Fink, M., Kassar, C., Matteson, M., and McKinnon, T., July 2009.     • America's Newest Fossil Beds National Monument: Tule Springs/Upper Las Vegas Wash . Mrowka, R. and Davis, L., 2009.     • Wild at Heart: Saving the Last of America's Backcountry . 2008.     • Imperiled Western Trout and the Importance of Roadless Areas . 2001.     • Protection and Conservation of Roadless Areas in the Southwest . Greenwald, N.     • A Conservation Alternative for the Management of the Four Southern California National Forests (Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland) . Penrod, K., et al., 2002.

CLIMATE CHANGE

   • Flight Path: A Trajectory for U.S. Aviation to Meet Global Climate Goals . Center for Biological Diversity. October 2020.    • From Bailout to Righting the Course: The Commonsense Action the United States Must Take to Address the Flood Crisis . Lopez, J. 2020.    • Stealing California's Future: How Monterey County's Dirty Oil Business Worsens the Climate Crisis . Center for Biological Diversity. September 2016.    • Throwing Shade: 10 Sunny States Blocking Distributed Solar Development . Greer, R. April 2016.    • Up in the Air: How Airplane Carbon Pollution Jeopardizes Global Climate Goals . Pardee, V. December 2015.    • Biodiversity on the Brink: The Role of “Assisted Migration" in Managing Endangered Species Threatened With Rising Seas . Lopez, J. Harvard Environmental Law Review Vol. 39. 2015.    • Grounded: The President's Power to Fight Climate Change, Protect Public Lands by Keeping Publicly Owned Fossil Fuels in the Ground . Saul, M., McKinnon, T., Spivak, R., 2015.    • What Happens When Species Move But Reserves Do Not? Creating Climate Adaptive Solutions to Climate Change . Whipps, N., 2015. Hastings Law Journal Vol. 66.    • Runaway Risks: Oil Trains and the Government's Failure to Protect People, Wildlife and the Environments . Margolis, J., 2015.    • The Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions From U.S. Federal Fossil Fuels . Ecoshift Consulting, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth. August 2015.    • Troubled Waters: Offshore Fracking's Threat to California's Ocean, Air and Seismic Stability . Center for Biological Diversity, 2014.    • On Shaky Ground: Fracking, Acidizing, and Increased Earthquake Risk in California . Earthworks, Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Water Action, 2014.    • Deadly Waters: How Rising Seas Threaten 233 Endangered Species . Center for Biological Diversity, 2013.    • The New Normal: Climate Change Victims in Post- Kiobel United States Federal Courts . Lopez, J., 2013. Charleston Law Review 8(1).    • Not Just a Number: Achieving a CO 2 Concentration of 350 ppm or Less to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Impacts. Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org, 2010.    • Extinction: It's Not Just for Polar Bears. A Center for Biological Diversity and Care for the Wild International report. Wolf, S., 2010.    • Yes, He Can: President Obama's Power to Make an International Climate Commitment Without Waiting for Congress . Bundy, K., Cummings, B., Pardee, V. & Siegel, K., 2009.    • 350 Reasons We Need to Get to 350: Species Threatened by Global Warming; An Interactive Installation by the Center for Biological Diversity . 2009.    • No Reason to Wait: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through the Clean Air Act . Siegel, K., Snape, W., and Vespa, M., June 2009.    • Why 350? Climate Policy Must Aim to Stabilize Greenhouse Gases at the Level Necessary to Minimize the Risk of Catastrophic Outcomes . Vespa, M., 2009. Ecology Law Currents 36(1): 185-194. • Fuel to Burn: The Climate and Public Health Implications of Off-road Vehicle Pollution in California . Kassar, C. & Spitler, P., 2008.     • Not Too Late to Save the Polar Bear: A Rapid Action Plan to Address the Arctic Meltdown . Siegel, K., Cummings, B., Moritz, A. & Nowicki, B., 2007.     • The California Environmental Quality Act: On the Front Lines of California's Fight Against Global Warming . Siegel, K., Vespa, M. & Nowicki, B., 2007.

    • Powerless in the United States: How Utilities Drive Shutoffs and Energy Injustice . Center for Biological Diversity, March 2023.     • Rooftop-Solar Justice: Why Net Metering is Good for People and the Planet and Why Monopoly Utilities Want to Kill It . Crystal,. H., Lin, R., and Su, J., Center for Biological Diversity, Energy and Policy Institute, BailoutWatch, January 2023.    • Fueling Extinction: How Dirty Energy Drives Wildlife to the Brink . Endangered Species Coalition (incl. the Center for Biological Diversity), 2012.    • A Deadly Toll: The Gulf Oil Spill and the Unfolding Wildlife Disaster . 2011. Center for Biological Diversity.    • What We Should Learn From the BP Spill . Lopez, J., 2011. Environmental Law News 20 (1): 35.    • Too Much Oil for the Rubber Stamp: The Government's Role in the BP Oil Spill . Lopez, J., 2011.    • BP's Well Evaded Environmental Review: Categorical Exclusion Policy Remains Unchanged . Lopez, J., 2010. Ecology Law Currents 37 (93): 93-103.    • Corporate Profile of Salt River Project . Draffan, G., 2001.    • Ecological and Community Problems with Biomass-to-Energy . Schulke, T.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH/POLLUTION

    • Collateral Damage: How Factory Farming Drives Upthe Use of Toxic Agricultural Pesticides . Center for Biological Diversity, World Animal Protection, 2022.     • Pesticides and Environmental Injustice in the USA: Root Causes, Current Regulatory Reinforcement and a Path Forward . Donley, N., Bullard, R., Economos, J., Figueroa, I., Lee, J., Liebman, A., Navarro Martinez, D., & Shafiei, F. BMC Public Health , April 2022.     • Toxic Hangover: How the EPA Is Approving New Products With Dangerous Pesticides It Committed to Phasing Out . Donley, N., Jan. 2020.     • A Menace to Monarchs: Drift-prone Dicamba Poses a Dangerous New Threat to Monarch Butterflies . Donley, N., March 2018.     • Toxic Concoctions: How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails . Donley, N., July 2016.     • Can't We Just All Get Along: Reconciling Pesticide Use and Species Protection . Lopez, J. 2015.     • Lost in the Mist: How Glyphosate Use Disproportionately Threatens California's Most Impoverished Counties . Center for Biological Diversity, 2015.       • Perdido en la niebla: Como El uso de glifosato desproporcionadamente amenaza los condados más pobres de California . Center for Biological Diversity, 2015.     • Dispersants: The Lesser of Two Evils or a Cure Worse Than the Disease? Kilduff, C. and Lopez, J., 2012. Ocean and Coastal Law Journal 16 (2): 375-394.     • Endocrine-disrupting Chemical Pollution: Why the EPA Should Regulate These Chemicals Under the Clean Water Act . Lopez, J., 2010. Sustainable Development Law & Policy 10(3): 19-23.     • Poisoning Our Imperiled Wildlife: San Francisco Bay Area Endangered Species at Risk from Pesticides . Miller, J., Miller, J., Beeland, T.D. & Bradley, C., 2006.     • Silent Spring Revisited: Pesticide Use and Endangered Species . Litmans, B. & Miller, J, 2004.

POPULATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

    • Alternative Economies: Uplifting Activities for a Sustainable Future . Dennings, K., Adoma, A.; 2023.     • At What Cost: Unraveling the Harms of the Fast Fashion Industry . Shedlock, K., Feldstein, S.; 2023.     • Too Hot for Knitwear: Climate Crisis, Biodiversity and Fashion Brands Using Woll and Synthetics . Feldstein, S., Hakansson, E.; 2023.     • Talking Trash: U.S. Perspectives on the Language of Waste Reduction . Dennings, K., Adoma, A.; 2023.     • Unwrapped: Perceptions of Winter Holiday Consumerism, Gift Giving and Waste . Dennings, K., Adoma, A; 2023.     • The Influence of Environmental Toxicity, Inequity and Capitalism on Reproductive Health . Dennings, K., Grossman, A; 2022.     • Gender and the Climate Crisis: Equitable Solutions for Climate Plans . Dennings, K., Baillie, S., and Baxter, C; 2022.     • Public Perceptions on Population: US Survey Results . Dennings, K., Baillie, S., Ricciardi, R. and Addo, A; 2022; Population and Sustainability 6(1): 1-23.     • Sheer Destruction: Wool, Fashion and the Biodiversity Crisis . Feldstein, S., Hakansson, E., Katcher, J., Vance, V.; 2021.     • Endangered Species Condoms: A Social Marketing Tool for Starting Conversations About Population . Baillie, S., Dennings, K. and Feldstein S.; 2020; Journal of Population and Sustainability 4(2): 31-44.     • Contraception and Consumption in the Age of Extinction: U.S. Survey Results . Dennings, K., 2020.     • Appetite for Change: A Policy Guide to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions of U.S. Diets by 2030 . Feldstein, S., 2020.     • Catering to the Climate: How Earth-Friendly Menus at Events Can Help Save the Planet . Molidor, J., Emery., I., 2019.     • Towards a Psychology of the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus: Costs and Opportunities . Dreyer, S.J., Kurz, T., Prosser, A.M.B., Abrash, A.W., Dennings, K., McNeill, I., Saber, D.A., Swim, J.K., 2019. Journal of Social Issues 76(1).     • Slow Road to Zero: A Report Card on U.S. Supermarkets’ Path to Zero Food Waste . Molidor, J., Feldstein, S., Figueiredo, J., 2019.     • Checked Out: How U.S. Supermarkets Fail to Make the Grade in Reducing Food Waste . Molidor, J., Feldstein, S., 2018.     • Wasting Biodiversity: Why Food Waste Needs to Be a Conservation Priority . Feldstein, S., 2017. Biodiversity 18 (2-3): 75-77.     • Habitat-Fed Food: Grass-fed Beef and Sustainable Solutions . Molidor, J., 2017. Biodiversity 18 (2-3): 78-81.

FIRE AND FOREST RESTORATION

    • Nourished by Wildfire: The Ecological Benefits of the Rim Fire and the Threat of Salvage Logging . Center for Biological Diversity and John Muir Projejct, January 2014.     • Influence of Pre-Fire Tree Mortality on Fire Severity in Conifer Forests of the San Bernardino Mountains, California , 2009. Bond, M., Lee, D. E., Bradley, C. & Hanson, T. Open Forest Science Journal 2:41-47.     • Impacts of the 2003 Southern California Wildfires on Four Species Listed as Threatened or Endangered Under the Federal Endangered Species Act: Quino Checkerspot Butterfly, Mountain Yellow-legged Frog, Coastal California Gnatcatcher, Least Bell's Vireo . Bond, M. & Bradley, C., 2003.     • Ecological Restoration of Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems: A Broad Perspective . Allen, C.D., Savage, M., Falk, D.A., Suckling, K. F., Swetnam, T. W., Schulke, T., Stacey, P. B., Morgan, P., Hoffman, M. & Klingel, J. T., 2002. Ecological Applications 12(5): 1418-1433.     • Prelude to Catastrophe: Recent and Historic Land Management within the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire Area .     • Effectively Treating the Wildland-Urban Interface to Protect Houses and Communities from the Threat of Forest Fire . Nowicki, B., 2002.     • Protection and Conservation of Roadless Areas in the Southwest . Greenwald, N.     • An Ecologically Integrated Approach to Managing Dwarf Mistletoe (Arceuthobium) in Southwest Forests .  Pollock, Michael M., Ph. D.  Kieran Suckling, 1995.      • A Conservation Alternative for the Management of the Four Southern California National Forests (Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland) . Penrod, K., et al., 2002.     • Fire & Forest Ecosystem Health in the American Southwest . Suckling, K., 1996.

LIVESTOCK GRAZING

    • Costs and Consequences: The Real Price of Livestock Grazing on America's Public Lands . Glaser, C., Romaniello, C. & Moskowitz, K. (prepared for the Center for Biological Diversity), 2015.     • Assessing the Full Cost of the Federal Grazing Program . Moskowitz, K., & Romaniello, C., 2002.     • Ecological Restoration of Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems: A Broad Perspective . Allen, C.D., Savage, M., Falk, D.A., Suckling, K.F., Swetnam, T.W., Schulke, T., Stacey, P.B., Morgan, P., Hoffman, M. & Klingel, J.T., 2002. Ecological Applications 12(5): 1418-1433.     • Cattle Grazing and the Loss of Biodiversity in the East Bay .      • Livestock Grazing, Fire Regimes, and Tree Densities: A Literature Review .

    • Frogs . In Bernheimer, K. (ed.), Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales. Wayne State University Press. Suckling, K.F., 2007.     • Biodiversity, Linguistic Diversity and Identity — Toward an Ecology of Language in an Age of Extinction . Suckling, K., 2000. Langscape 17: 14-20.     • A House on Fire: Connecting the Biological and Linguistic Diversity Crises . 2002. Animal Law 6: 193-202.

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• Published: 17 October 2022

Invasion biology

Colonialism shaped today’s biodiversity

• Nussaïbah B. Raja 1  

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume  6 ,  pages 1597–1598 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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The effects of the redistribution of flora and fauna by European empires are still visible in global biodiversity today and can be traced through the distribution of introduced species. Attempts to solve today’s biodiversity crisis necessitates grappling these colonial legacies head on.

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Raja, N.B. Colonialism shaped today’s biodiversity. Nat Ecol Evol 6 , 1597–1598 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01903-y

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Essay on Extinct Animals

Students are often asked to write an essay on Extinct Animals in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Extinct Animals

What are extinct animals.

Extinct animals are species that don’t exist anymore. They vanished forever due to various reasons like habitat loss, hunting, or climate change.

Examples of Extinct Animals

Famous extinct animals include the Dodo, a bird from Mauritius, and the Tasmanian Tiger, a carnivorous marsupial from Australia.

Why Animals Become Extinct

Animals become extinct mainly due to human activities. Deforestation, pollution, and overhunting are major causes.

Importance of Preventing Extinction

Preventing extinction is crucial for biodiversity. Each species plays a role in the ecosystem, and their loss can disrupt the balance.

250 Words Essay on Extinct Animals

Introduction.

Extinct animals refer to species that no longer exist on Earth. Their disappearance, often a result of human activities or natural phenomena, leaves a significant impact on the biodiversity and balance of our ecosystem.

The Causes of Extinction

The primary causes of animal extinction include habitat loss, climate change, overexploitation, and invasive species. The relentless expansion of human civilization often leads to habitat destruction, leaving animals without homes or food sources. Climate change disrupts the delicate balance of ecosystems, making survival difficult for many species. Overhunting and overfishing have also led to the extinction of numerous species. Lastly, invasive species, introduced either intentionally or accidentally, can outcompete native species for resources, leading to their extinction.

Impact on Biodiversity

The extinction of animals greatly affects biodiversity. Each species plays a unique role within its ecosystem, and its loss can disrupt the balance, leading to cascading effects on other species. For instance, the extinction of a predator can lead to overpopulation of its prey, which may then overconsume vegetation and disrupt the ecosystem.

Conservation Efforts

Conservation efforts are crucial to prevent further extinctions. These include habitat protection, regulation of hunting and fishing, and breeding programs for endangered species. Additionally, raising public awareness about the importance of biodiversity and the consequences of extinction can drive societal changes necessary for conservation.

In conclusion, the extinction of animals is a pressing issue that requires immediate attention. Through understanding its causes and impacts, and implementing effective conservation strategies, we can hope to preserve the remaining biodiversity for future generations.

500 Words Essay on Extinct Animals

The natural world is a vast, interconnected web of life, with each species playing a unique role in the balance of the ecosystem. However, in recent centuries, human activities have greatly accelerated the rate of animal extinction, leading to a loss of biodiversity. This essay will delve into the topic of extinct animals, exploring the causes and consequences of extinction, and the importance of conservation efforts.

The primary causes of animal extinction are habitat destruction, overexploitation, climate change, and invasive species. Human activities such as deforestation, urbanisation, and industrialisation have led to the loss and fragmentation of habitats, making it difficult for many species to survive. Overexploitation, driven by hunting, fishing, and wildlife trade, has also led to the rapid decline of numerous species. Moreover, climate change is altering habitats at an unprecedented rate, forcing many species into extinction. Lastly, invasive species introduced by humans can outcompete native species for resources, leading to their extinction.

The Consequences of Extinction

The extinction of animals has far-reaching implications. Firstly, it disrupts the balance of ecosystems. Each species plays a unique role in its ecosystem, and the loss of a single species can trigger a cascade of changes that affect other species. Secondly, extinction can lead to the loss of genetic diversity, which is crucial for the resilience of ecosystems in the face of environmental changes. Thirdly, the extinction of animals can have economic implications, affecting industries such as tourism and agriculture that rely on biodiversity.

Extinct Animals: A Case Study

The dodo bird, native to Mauritius, serves as a poignant example of human-induced extinction. Unaccustomed to predators, these birds were easy prey for humans and invasive species introduced by sailors in the 17th century. Their extinction within less than a century of their discovery highlights the devastating impact of human activities on biodiversity.

The Importance of Conservation

Given the dire consequences of extinction, conservation efforts are crucial. These include the establishment of protected areas, regulations on hunting and wildlife trade, and efforts to mitigate climate change. Furthermore, conservation science, which uses tools such as population modelling and genetic analysis, can help identify at-risk species and develop strategies to protect them.

In conclusion, the extinction of animals is a pressing issue that has been largely driven by human activities. The loss of species has profound implications for ecosystems and human societies. Therefore, it is imperative that we intensify our conservation efforts to protect biodiversity. The fate of many species lies in our hands, and it is our responsibility to ensure that they do not go the way of the dodo.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Biodiversity terms & definitions

Preserving biodiversity is essential for the health of the planet. At IFAW, we work to preserve biodiversity through large-scale initiatives like Room to Roam and our efforts to tackle climate change , and through our Landscape Conservation , Marine Conservation , and Policy programs. 

When discussing biodiversity, it helps to understand all the terminology that comes along with it from ecological integrity to overexploitation and everything in between. Here are some common terms that IFAW and other organizations use to help you understand biodiversity.

Alien species

An alien species is a non-native or introduced species that has been intentionally or unintentionally transported to a new habitat outside its natural range.

Sometimes referred to as ‘invasive’, alien species can be harmful to native species and have a significant impact on biodiversity. Alien species can disrupt an entire ecosystem by competing with native species for resources, preying on them, or introducing diseases. This, in turn, can lead to declines in native biodiversity, changes in community structure, and even the extinction of other species.

Biodiversity

Short for biological diversity, biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth—from the smallest bacteria to the largest coral reef. It covers life on Earth at all levels, including the global diversity of species, diversity within particular ecosystems, and genetic variations within species.

All living organisms, their interactions, and their habitats come under the umbrella of biodiversity, which measures how much variability there is among them all.

Maintaining biodiversity is essential for the planet’s survival and is crucial for the stability and resilience of ecosystems. However, human activities have contributed to habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change, which can significantly impact biodiversity, leading to the loss of species and severe damage to ecosystems.

Biodiversity loss

Biodiversity loss refers to the decline in the variety and abundance of life on Earth, resulting from various human activities that negatively impact natural ecosystems. Biodiversity loss can have profound implications for the functioning of ecosystems and the well-being of humans and animals, making it a significant global concern.

Processes like the pollination of crops, regulation of climate, water purification, and disease and pest control all rely on biodiversity.

Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD ) is an international treaty that aims to preserve the wealth of life we have on Earth. It is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development.

The CBD was established in 1992 to address the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

The 196 countries party to the convention are committed to the conservation and sustainable use of their biodiversity and must share the benefits of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way.

Ecology is the scientific study of the relationships between living organisms and their environments.

It explores the interactions among organisms and their interactions with their nonliving surroundings. Ecology covers a broad range of topics, from the study of individuals and populations to communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere.

In the context of biodiversity, ecology plays a crucial role in understanding interactions between living organisms and their environments and what causes the variety and distribution of species across different areas.

Through ecological studies, scientists can gain insights into the factors influencing species diversity, habitat variation, and ecosystem health—all of which are essential for conservation efforts.

Ecological integrity

Ecological integrity refers to the overall health and balance of an ecosystem and how well it can support a diverse array of native plants, animals, and natural processes.

The integrity of an ecosystem is important for animals because it ensures that the environment provides suitable habitats, necessary resources, and the right conditions for their survival and proper functioning.

A high level of ecological integrity means that the ecosystem can sustain various animal species, offering them the right places to live, find food, and reproduce, contributing to the overall resilience and well-being of the entire ecosystem.

Conservation efforts often focus on maintaining or restoring ecological integrity to secure the habitats and conditions essential for diverse animal life.

Ecosystem diversity

Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of different ecosystems on Earth as a whole. The term encompasses both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, from forests and wetlands to coral reefs and deserts. Each one is characterized by the unique combinations of living organisms and their physical surroundings.

Ecosystem diversity is closely linked to biodiversity as it represents the assortment of habitats where various species thrive. Diverse ecosystems support a wide array of plant and animal life, contributing significantly to overall biodiversity.

Maintaining the health and variety of ecosystems is essential for the continuous survival of the species that call them home, as they provide essential services like food production, climate regulation, and water purification.

Extinction is the complete disappearance of a species from the entire planet. It occurs when there are no surviving individuals of that species remaining.

When a species is declared extinct, it means there are undoubtedly no living members of that species anywhere on Earth. In contrast, if a species is labeled as ‘extinct in the wild,’ it implies that no individuals of that species remain in their natural habitat, but some may still exist in captivity or through human intervention.

Both terms signify a critical loss of biodiversity, highlighting the urgency for conservation efforts to prevent further extinctions.

The Earth is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction event , marked by a significant and rapid biodiversity loss. Human activities have contributed to habitat destruction, pollution, overexploitation, and climate change, which are major drivers of accelerated extinction rates.

These factors disrupt ecosystems and lead to the decline and disappearance of numerous species, highlighting the urgent need for global conservation efforts to mitigate the ongoing biodiversity crisis.

Genetic variability

Genetic variability refers to the diversity of genetic traits and their combinations within a population of a particular species. High genetic variability contributes to the adaptability and evolutionary potential of a species.

Genetic variability is a crucial aspect of biodiversity, as it affects how well species can adapt to unexpected changes in their habitats, such as disasters.

Habitat fragmentation can decrease genetic variability by isolating populations, limiting gene flow, and increasing the risk of inbreeding. This reduction in genetic diversity poses a threat to the long-term survival of species, as it lessens their ability to respond and adapt to environmental changes.

Global biodiversity

This is biodiversity but on a global scale.

Global diversity encompasses the variety of life across the planet, covering different species, ecosystems, and genetic variations within populations. It represents the collective sum of Earth’s biological richness.

Global Biodiversity Framework

The Global Biodiversity Framework is a historic international agreement that aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 .

Adopted in December 2022, it is a set of goals, targets, and actions agreed upon by 196 countries to collectively tackle the challenges of biodiversity loss and promote the responsible management of our planet’s biological resources.

The framework emphasizes the importance of biodiversity for the well-being of people and the health of the planet. It highlights the need for us all to work together to reverse the current mass extinction event.

Holocene extinction (or Anthropocene extinction)

The Holocene extinction or the Anthropocene extinction are other names for the sixth mass extinction event that we are currently experiencing. Currently, there is an ongoing and accelerated loss of a significant number of plant and animal species on our planet.

Unlike natural extinction events in the past, which have occurred due to natural changes and events, this extinction is primarily attributed to human activities , such as habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation of resources.

The impact of the Holocene extinction underscores the urgent need for global conservation efforts to mitigate the unprecedented loss of biodiversity caused by human influence on the planet.

Introduced species

Introduced species, also known as non-native or exotic species, are organisms that have been intentionally or accidentally brought to an area outside their native range by human activities.

These species can be plants, animals, fungi, and even tiny microorganisms. When introduced into new environments, they may thrive and, in some cases, become invasive, posing ecological threats and potentially impacting native species and ecosystems.

Invasive species

Invasive species are non-native organisms that rapidly reproduce and spread when introduced to a new environment, often outcompeting or causing harm to native species.

These species can disrupt local ecosystems, negatively impacting biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Their aggressive nature highlights how important it is to manage and control the presence of introduced species to protect the balance and health of natural habitats.

Keystone species

A keystone species is a critical player in its ecosystem that exerts a disproportionately large influence on its structure and function.

Similar to a keystone in an arch that supports the entire structure, the presence or absence of a keystone species can significantly impact the health and diversity of the ecosystem.

For example, elephants and giraffes can be considered keystone species in certain African savannahs, as their activities, such as feeding on specific plants or modifying the landscape, play a pivotal role in shaping the overall ecosystem dynamics.

Overexploitation

Overexploitation refers to the excessive and unsustainable use of natural resources from a population or ecosystem, almost always driven by human activities.

It occurs when the removal rate of species or their parts—whether animals or plants—exceeds the population’s ability to recover. Overexploitation leads to population declines, ecological imbalances, and, in some cases, species endangerment or extinction.

Overexploitation poses a significant threat to biodiversity. It is the second-greatest cause of decline among terrestrial species, behind habitat loss, and is the number one cause of the decline of marine species.

Species diversity

Species diversity refers to the variety and abundance of different species within a specific geographic area or ecosystem. It encompasses the number of different species present (species richness) and the relative abundance of each species (species evenness).

Species diversity is a component of biodiversity, specifically addressing the variety of individual species in a given area. While biodiversity considers the richness and variability of life at multiple levels, including gene pools, species, and ecosystems, species diversity looks only at the variety of species within a given area.

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There are more than 1,000 varieties of banana, and we eat one of them. Here’s why that’s absurd

The lack of diversity could mean the fruit’s extinction. It offers a stark warning of what could happen to other key foods

T he meeting of the World Banana Forum last week in Rome didn’t make many headlines. But what was under discussion there has serious implications for everyone. The ubiquitous yellow fruit is the proverbial canary in the mine of our modern food system, showing just how fragile it is. And the current plight of the banana should serve as an invitation to us all to become champions of food diversity.

When you peel a banana, you’re on the receiving end of a near-miraculous $10bn supply chain . One that sends seemingly endless quantities of a tropical fruit halfway across the world to be among the cheapest, most readily available products in supermarket aisles (on average, around 12p a banana). But, incredibly, there’s no inbuilt backup plan or safety net if the one variety that most of the global trade depends on starts to fail .

The most striking point made at this year’s forum came in a seemingly innocuous comment in the event’s opening speech. The director general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Dr Qu Dongyu, questioned why, with more than 1,000 known varieties of banana, the world mostly depends on just one, a species called the Cavendish. That needs to change, he said, hinting that we are all part of the problem.

Most people don’t question why every banana they’ve ever eaten looks and tastes pretty much the same. Most of us will never try a blue java from Indonesia with its soft, unctuous texture and flavour of vanilla ice-cream, or the Chinese banana that is so aromatic it’s been given the name go san heong , meaning “you can smell it from the next mountain”. The demand for low-cost, high-yielding varieties has resulted in vast monocultures of just one type of globally traded banana, and this is true of many other crops as well. Homogeneity in the food system is a risky strategy, because it reduces our ability to adapt in a rapidly changing world.

Unlike wild bananas, which grow from seed, every single Cavendish is a clone, the offspring of a slice of the plant’s suckers growing below ground. This means it has no way of evolving, so it can’t adapt to new threats that arise in the environment. Panama disease , also known as fusarium wilt, is whipping through monocultures of Cavendish bananas in Asia, Australia, Africa and, most recently, in Latin America and the Caribbean, the source of 80% of the world’s traded bananas. Just a few spores carried on a spade or even on clothing is all it takes to contaminate a plantation, and growing the Cavendish on that land is no longer an option.

One solution in the face of this devastating disease is to use genetic modification or gene-editing to develop bananas with greater resistance. James Dale, a professor at Queensland University of Technology, spent decades working on a modified version of the Cavendish designed to be “highly resistant” to the variant of Panama disease that’s attacking the Cavendish. But Dale believes it’s not a magic bullet. The long-term answer, he thinks, is to bring greater diversity into the food system.

During the research for my book Eating to Extinction, a conversation with Dale proved revelatory. Monocultures do not exist in nature, he told me, and we need to learn lessons from this. Much greater diversity used to exist in the global food system. But in introducing a smaller number of highly productive crops, this diversity was lost . In response to this, scientists at the UK’s leading crop research centres, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) in Cambridge and the John Innes Centre in Norwich, are working to bring diversity back into the fields using genetics from heritage varieties that were pushed to the brink of extinction by modern varieties.

Scientists are looking at other precarious crops, such as coffee, which is made up of varieties that emerged from just a handful of plants sent around the world in the 18th and 19th centuries. The climate crisis is making the future of the coffee species we depend on – arabica and robusta – look bleak. This is why botanists at Kew have identified viable and delicious alternatives from the more than 120 other coffee species around the world. The most promising is Coffea stenophylla , a species found in Sierra Leone that almost went extinct in the 1950s.

At a policy level, there are reasons to be optimistic. At Cop15, held in December 2022 in Montreal, 196 countries signed up to the Global Biodiversity Framework. The headline pledge is to save 30% of nature on land and sea by 2030, part of which includes urgent action to “halt extinction of threatened species”. Less well known is the fact that these threatened species also include domesticated ones, referring to the 7,000 or so plants humans have used for food over millennia.

And there are farmers’ initiatives such as Wildfarmed , which is experimenting with a wider range of wheat varieties. The flour is already finding its way on to the high street through major retailers and nationwide pizza chains. Meanwhile, in the east of England, Hodmedod’s, a business set up by three food and farming researchers, is looking back to what was grown in Britain during the iron age and reviving neglected varieties of grains and pulses , including carlin peas and emmer wheat.

But if Qu Dongyu is right that a big problem is the lack of “acceptance by retailers and consumers of different varieties”, we all need to step up. We need to let it be known that we want greater diversity. This rallying call could be as simple as buying a variety of bean or pea we haven’t tried before, an unusual type of wheat, or even – if one were to appear in store – a different banana.

Dan Saladino is a food journalist, broadcaster and author of Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them

• Biodiversity
• Climate crisis

Most viewed

Transient species driving ecosystem multifunctionality: Insights from competitive interactions between rocky intertidal mussels

• Betancourtt, Claudia
• Catalán, Alexis M.
• Morales-Torres, Diego F.
• Lopez, Daniela N.
• Escares-Aguilera, Valentina
• Salas-Yanquin, Luis P.
• Büchner-Miranda, Joseline A.
• Chaparro, Oscar R.
• Nimptsch, Jorge
• Broitman, Bernardo R.
• Valdivia, Nelson

Anthropogenic biodiversity loss poses a significant threat to ecosystem functioning worldwide. Numerically dominant and locally rare (i.e., transient) species are key components of biodiversity, but their contribution to multiple ecosystem functions (i.e., multifunctionality) has been seldomly assessed in marine ecosystems. To fill this gap, here we analyze the effects of a dominant and a transient species on ecosystem multifunctionality. In an observational study conducted along ca. 200 km of the southeastern Pacific coast, the purple mussel Perumytilus purpuratus numerically dominated the mid-intertidal and the dwarf mussel Semimytilus patagonicus exhibited low abundances but higher recruitment rates. In laboratory experiments, the relative abundances of both species were manipulated to simulate the replacement of P. purpuratus by S. patagonicus and five proxies for ecosystem functions-rates of clearance, oxygen consumption, total biodeposit, organic biodeposit, and excretion-were analyzed. This replacement had a positive, linear, and significant effect on the combined ecosystem functions, particularly oxygen consumption and excretion rates. Accordingly, S. patagonicus could well drive ecosystem functioning given favorable environmental conditions for its recovery from rarity. Our study highlights therefore the key role of transient species for ecosystem performance. Improving our understanding of these dynamics is crucial for effective ecosystem conservation, especially in the current scenario of biological extinctions and invasions.

• Biodiversity;
• Species identity;
• Physiological variables;
• BEF research;
• Ecosystem functioning

The Importance of Saving a Species From Extinction Essay

Extinction is the total disappearance of a species from the earth’s surface. It leads to a lack of surviving members of some species to reproduce in order create a new generation of the extinct species. Different plants and animals due to various reasons, which are either natural or man-made. These reasons are habitat degradation, over exploitation of available resources, agricultural monocultures, poaching and commercial hunting, human-wildlife or human-induced climate change and destruction of land to build factories and residential areas. Protecting a rare species of animals or plants is therefore a responsibility of all human beings to ensure the betterment of our planet (Cunningham, & Saigo, 2005).

Animal or plant species’ protection from extinction is beneficial because all species are important for balance in the nature world. Moreover, some animals and plants are key in the field of medicine since they provide raw materials used to produce different drugs. These species may include the African clawed frog that secretes antibiotics, the dogfish shark which has cancer fighting molecules. In addition, chemicals found in certain plants assist in treatment of Hodgkin’s disease and other types of cancers. Also, some extracts from specific and rare marine animals has a unique ability to act as anti-cancer agents. (Cunningham, & Saigo, 2005).

Extinction of some species has varied effects because the balance of nature will be broken. For example, a breach in a food chain may cause a drastical increase of some species in over a short period since there will be no consumers in the ecosystem. This growth leads to increased competition for food and space causing starvation ad leading to a disbalance. The predators will also experience lack of feood, and as a result, they will starve to death, which may cause the possibility of their extinction.

The elimination of one organism from an ecosystem, therefore, serves as a domino effect causing the disappearance of other numerous organisms. The introduction of new cloning technology will further accelerate the process of extinction since the easier it is to clone an organism, the lesser efforts are directed towards the protection of the whole species (Ehrlich, 1983).

Extinction is irreversible as a species that becomes extinct is lost forever, and thus, the expensive efforts required to protect animals facing extinction are justified. Protection of different rare and endangered species is achievable. As a solution to this global issue, an investment of 0.1% of global GDP in environment protection will ensure the pay off a large chunk of the ecological debt (Ehrlich, 1983).

Biodiversity refers to genes, species and ecosystems. The toughness of an area’s immune system is dependent on the area’s riches in terms of biodiversity. Hence, biodiversity is vital in preserving food security and allows ecosystems to adapt to different natural disturbances like earthquakes, fires and floods. Thus, a loss of biodiversity will also have a tremendous impact on medicine and healthcare, among all the rest spheres of life (Miller, 2013).

Extinction of certain species will also hinder scientific research, which aims at finding new way of treating different diseases and production of new drugs and vaccines. Such medicines are usually hard to develop as they cannot (or are hard to) be produced artificially, thus their manufacture is expensive in nature as their source is not easy to get. Genetic diversity helps in the prevention of diseases and enables adaptation of different species to changes in their environment.

Apart from medicine, the some plants and animals are able to provide raw materials for the manufacture of clothing, cosmetics, and household goods. Hence, it is important to protect the rare species from extinction due to various reasons mentioned above.

Cunningham, M. A., & Saigo, B. W. (2005). Environmental Science: A global concern . Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Ehrlich, A. H. (1983). Extinction: The causes and consequences of the Disappearance Of species . New York: Ballantine Books.

Miller, D., A. (2013). Biodiversity . Detroit: Green haven Press.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, April 8). The Importance of Saving a Species From Extinction. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-saving-a-species-from-extinction/

"The Importance of Saving a Species From Extinction." IvyPanda , 8 Apr. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-saving-a-species-from-extinction/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'The Importance of Saving a Species From Extinction'. 8 April.

IvyPanda . 2022. "The Importance of Saving a Species From Extinction." April 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-saving-a-species-from-extinction/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Importance of Saving a Species From Extinction." April 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-importance-of-saving-a-species-from-extinction/.

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