Essay Example on 82% Decline in Wild Mammal Biomass: What Endangers Species?

Research conducted by the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services indicates that the biomass of the wild mammals in the ecosystem has gone down by 82% (Weber, 2016). Human activities accelerate the disappearance of species through pollution from the industries, overharvesting, habitat destruction, and introduction of invasive species such as predators and food competitors. An endangered species includes flora or fauna, considered to be at the risk of being extinct. There is a need to protect these species through environmental conservation.

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In the USA, endangered species management occurs under the Endangered Species Act -1973 (Lyons, 2019). There is a need to protect the endangered species because this would save native fish, wild animals, and plants from extinction. When a particular plant or animal becomes extinct, it does not come back again because it is irreversible. Losing one species of either an animal or a plant will affect the ecosystem because the food chain gets affected. There is a need to conserve the environment and make the ecosystem friendly.

Humans contribute to the extinction of the endangered species. As humans' clear forest for wood, they contribute to habitat loss because animals become homeless. The Wild Life wanders around, and others die due to unfavorable conditions. Deforestation causes climate change, which further affects the species even more (Weber, 2016). Also, the industries' wastes pollute the environment, making it difficult for the endangered species to cope with the environment's changes. With this, some flora and fauna are prone to the disappearance.

The act endeavors to protect species at risk of extinction as the animal and plant species are protected from being traded or sold. The act protects the endangered species against any harass, hunt, wound, capture, or harm. Through the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife Services mandate the listing of the animals and plants at risk of extinction so that they can be protected. In listing an animal or a plant as an endangered species, there is a criterion applied; if the species has a high percentage of its habitat destroyed, a species is over consumed through commerce, recreation, or so scientific research. A species is also endangered if it is under threat by diseases or predators.

The ESA has enabled the protection of various plants and animal species in America. For instance, bald eagle, grey wolf, grizzly bear, have been conserved. In particular, the grizzly bear in America faces extinction due to overhunting and converting its habitats by humans. Logging and road construction have made this grizzly bear habitat less. The grizzly bears get protection under The Endangered Species Act since 1975. When the bears were being listed under the act, there were only 250 of them in the Yellowstone area. However, with the conservation, the number of bears has risen to 600 (Lyons, 2019). The grey wolf has also been conserved through The Endangered Species Act. This species was listed as an endangered one because of the results of poisoning and trapping by farmers and government Agents. Currently, there are over 2500 species of grey wolves in Minnesota, whereby around 499 of them in Wisconsin (Lyons, 2019). The grey wolf conservation became a success due to the cooperation between the farmers and the government officials who are mandated to conserve the environment.

Conclusion

Conservation of these species is necessary. People celebrate the Endangered Species Day on the 3rd Friday, May, every year. During this time, the world celebrates the success stories of the endangered species while getting information about those species that could be in danger. Conserving the environment is a collective responsibility.

References

Lyons, K. (2019). Successful Rulemaking to List Species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/gss_2019/127/

Weber, E. P. (2016). Endangered Species: A Documentary and Reference Guide: A Documentary and Reference Guide. ABC-CLIO.