Endangered Species By: Chuan Tran SBI4U

Intro  Human beings have recklessly exploited the Earth’s resources despite the apparent negative consequences  These consequences have lead scientists to believe that Earth has entered a new “extinction phase”  The current rate of species extinction is between 50 and 1000 times more than the geo-historical norm  Species that are at immediate risk of extinction are also known as endangered species

Endangered Species  Those at immediate risk of extinction

Factors  Factors that contribute to the decrease in populations are:  Habitat loss  Example: Humans cutting down forests for buildings  Pollution  Example: contaminants released into the environment  Introduced species  Example: captivity  Overexploitation  Example: hunting

Facing Extinction  1/3 of amphibians  1/8 of birds  1/4 of mammals  And more than 8000 plants and algae species are facing extinction

What Are We Doing  International and U.S. laws offer protection to the endangered species  These laws make it a crime to:  Capture the species  Kill the species  Fail to act to recover them  Harm their habitat  Endangered Species Act  IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature  CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Endangered Species Act  The endangered species act provides for the conservation of endangered or threatened species throughout all or most of their range and the ecosystem they depend on

IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature  IUCN is a world conservation union  It maintains a record, called the red list, of the world’s species that are threatened with extinction  The red list includes over species

CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species  This is an agreement signed by more than 160 countries to restrict trade of more than species of plants and animals, live or dead.  Example: Marmosets and Ivory

Our Plans  Plans are developed to aid in the recovery of the species  Recovery programs that can take place in the natural or outside the range of a species include:  Habitat restoration  Captive breeding efforts  Assisted reproductive efforts  Or field research into behaviour, reproduction and biological or ecology study

Recovery Programs  The major functions of the recovery programs are to:  Identify the most important actions needed to save the species from extinction  Identify major players in the recovery effort  And collaborate and coordinate objectives to speed the recovery process

Endangered Species  An example of an endangered species is plankton

Plankton  Plankton is a term for species of microorganisms that drift in open water  They are generally about 1/1000 th of a mm  They are the most abundant form of life in the ocean  There are two types of plankton  Phytoplankton  Zooplankton

Phytoplankton  Phytoplankton make their own food through the process of photosynthesis  Phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from sea water and release oxygen  Populations of phytoplankton in the northern oceans have declined by as much as 30% since 1980  Phytoplankton are the first link in the food chain  They are an important part of ocean life

Zooplankton  Zooplankton feed on phytoplankton  Zooplankton are a food source to countless animals  As a result, plankton make up the base of the aquatic food chain  These tiny organisms sustain all life in the ocean

Facts  All other marine life is dependent upon plankton  The abundance of marine life is directly related to the supply of phytoplankton  They are a vital part of all food webs  Phytoplankton are the world’s number one source of oxygen  Phytoplankton produces about 90% of all photosynthetic processes on Earth

Theories for declination  Global warming  CO 2 emissions

Global Warming  Global warming is an increase in average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere  Global warming is the main cause of decreasing phytoplankton  Phytoplankton require nutrients from the bottom of the ocean in order to reproduce  At the Earth’s poles the ocean water is colder at the surface than it is below  The cold water sinks to the bottom and the warmer water below rises to the top, bringing nutrients with it  Because of the climate changes the water from the top is warmer and therefore less water from below will rise  This means less nutrients will be available for the plankton  As a result, the reproduction of phytoplankton is hindered

CO 2 emissions  Carbon dioxide emissions also causes the decrease in plankton  Carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean  Recent years, the ocean’s capacity has not been able to keep up with the amount of carbon dioxide levels from human output  The carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean turns into carbonic acid  This lowers the pH of the ocean  The decrease in pH is corrosive to the sea animals that form shells  One of these animals include zooplankton

Effect  Because plankton are a vital part of all food webs, the decrease in plankton will cause the food web to collapse  For example: Seals feed on fish, and fish feed on plankton, if plankton population decreases the affected species will die from hunger  Therefore if population decreases ocean life will be threatened  Humans are also affected because many cultures also depend on food from the sea  The sea-air exchange will be affected and will cause an impact on our living conditions because of reduced oxygen  Also, since the ocean absorbs additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, if the population of plankton decreased, atmospheric carbon dioxide would increase  This would increase global warming even more

Conclusion  Plankton are become closer and closer to extinction as we speak  This needs to be stopped and reversed as soon as possible  If not, the human race may face the ultimate consequence

Work Cited Alois, P., & Cheng, V. (2007, July). Keystone Species Extinction Overview. In World's Biggest Problems. Retrieved December 12, 2009, from Endangered Species Act (ESA). (n.d.). Office of Protected Resources. Retrieved December 13, 2009, from Endangered Species Science. (n.d.). Conservation and Science. Retrieved December 13, 2009, from ult.cfm ult.cfm ult.cfm How Do Phytoplankton Control The Carbon Cycle? (2003, January 27). The Wild Blue Wonder. Retrieved December 12, 2009, from The Who? What? Where? How? and Why's? of Plankton. (n.d.). Protect Oceanography: Ocean Drifters. Retrieved December 12, 2009, from