GARETH+-+Endangered+Species

__Knowledge Issues Endangered Species__
**Endangered species** is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.

**__Issues that are related to topic__** -A population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct -Threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters -The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) calculated the % of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample species that have been evaluated through 2006.



**__Scientist Employs 'Circuit Theory' to Protect Endangered Species__**
__ __//Image: Brad McRae and Brett Dickson//__ Scientists map the "current" of mountain lions moving between mountain ranges. Blue shows areas of low current density, which are expected to have low densities of dispersing mountain lions; yellow designates movement bottlenecks, which are most vulnerable to habitat destruction. Destroying high-flow habitat can isolate populations and endanger their survival.__

When we enter the wilderness, we like to leave the nonstop whir of electronics behind. The worlds of the mountain lion and of the integrated circuit seem to have nothing in common. But in fact, they are similar in some profound ways. Over the years, as mountain lions migrate and mate, their DNA flows across the landscape like electrons flowing around a circuit. By borrowing some engineers' insights about how circuits work, ecologists now have a promising new tool for helping conserve mountain lions and other threatened species. Ecologists are now using "circuit theory," thanks in large part to a scientist named Brad McRae who works at theNational Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, California. McRae designed electronics for printers before completing a Ph.D. in forest science at Northern Arizona University. He realized how striking the parallel was between the circuits he had worked on as an engineer and the species he was now trying to understand. In a circuit, for example, resistance slows down the flow of a current; the flow of genes can be slowed down as well. Two populations of a species may be linked by a narrow corridor, lowering the odds that any animal will move from one population to the other. One way to reduce the resistance in a circuit is to add extra wires. Likewise, the flow of genes increases with extra corridors. Over the course of 150 years, electrical engineers have developed a set of equations that let them predict how a circuit will behave even before they build it. McRae reasoned that by adapting those equations, he might do a better job of predicting how a species' genes flow across its range than with more conventional methods. He and his colleagues tested circuit theory on two endangered, well-studied species: big-leaf mahogany trees in Central America and wolverines in Canada and the United States. They transformed the ranges of both species into grids of five-kilometer cells -- 31,426 cells for the mahogany and 249,606 for the wolverines. Then they calculated the gene flow resistance from cell to cell. If the gene flow was high, there would be few genetic differences between the populations. If there was a lot of resistance to gene flow, the populations would become genetically distinct. The scientists compared their predictions about these differences to actual studies on wolverines and mahogany. As they reported last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, circuit theory beats popular gene-flow models. It not only works -- it works well. Mapping gene flow can help preserve species from extinction. The fragmentation of a species range can reduce its gene flow in much the same way ripping out wires can reduce the current moving through a circuit. Populations that don't get enough immigrants bringing fresh genes with them can become inbred, suffering from diseases and infertility. By mapping gene flow, conservation biologists can identify populations at risk and make smart plans to restore the flow. McRae and his colleagues are using circuit theory to help conserve mountain lions in southern California, sage grouse in the western United States and jaguars in South America. Circuit theory allows them to test what would happen if new corridors were added between populations or old ones were taken away. They've discovered a choke point, for example, in the range of mountain lions between the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountain ranges in California. If the corridor is blocked -- by a new tract of houses, for example -- the entire network of lion populations in southern California could be at risk. The success of circuit theory in the natural world may conflict with romantic notions that life is somehow above the reductionist simplicity of engineering and physics. But in fact, it doesn't drain the life out of life. Underlying the workings of a cellphone or a population of mountain lions is the same beautiful mathematics. It's just a coincidence that electrical engineers discovered much of that math first. Now it's time for conservation biologists to discover it too -- before it's too late.  __**Perspective**__ by William A. Niskanen //William A. Niskanen is Chairman of the Cato Institute.// As you may know, the first general federal measure to protect endangered species was approved in 1966. That act authorized the Secretary of Interior to identify species of native fish and wildlife threatened with extinction and to purchase habitat for their protection and preservation, and directed all federal agencies to protect these species and preserve their habitats "insofar as is practicable and consistent with [the agencies] primary purposes." The 1969 act maintained the general structure of the 1966 act but expanded the authority to purchase land, broadened the potentially protected species to include invertebrates, and authorized the Secretary of Interior to list foreign species threatened with worldwide extinction and banned the importation of these species except for narrow scientific purposes. So far, so good. That was a law that we could live with. The general structure of the law, however, was changed substantially by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, with minor amendments in later years. Two provisions of the 1973 act were probably desirable by themselves. The scope of protected organisms was broadened to include threatened species, endangered subspecies, and regional populations. And the limit on spending from the Land and Water Conservation Fund that could be used to purchase habitat was removed. These changes acknowledged that the choice of which organisms to protect and how much to spend to maintain their habitat are basically political decisions that should not be subject to arbitrary scientific or fiscal restraints.

By Holly Doremus __**When Europeans first arrived in North America, they saw the continent's natural resources, including its wildlife, as inexhaustible. By the early 20th century, however, it was clear that even abundant resources could be rapidly depleted. The great herds of bison had been reduced to a few scattered remnants. The last passenger pigeon, a sad vestige of the flocks that once darkened the skies of North America, died in a zoo in 1914.Because states proved unable to protect dwindling species on their own, federal legislation was enacted to reinforce state hunting laws, followed by federal restrictions on the hunting of migratory species. National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges provided havens for some dwindling species. By the 1960s several popular game species, such as deer and elk, had rebounded significantly, but other species, such as the gray wolf, bald eagle, and whooping crane, were continuing to decline.The first federal endangered species legislation, passed in 1966 and substantially amended in 1969, gave the federal government explicit authority to acquire land for the conservation of species. It encouraged, but did not require, conservation efforts. By the early 1970s, it was clear that this legislation had not stemmed the tide of extinctions. The Nixon administration asked Congress to provide stronger tools for conservation, and in 1973 Congress responded by enacting the Endangered Species Act (ESA).The ESA recognizes the esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value provided by non-human species. It calls for the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to identify species that are: (1) "endangered" (currently in danger of extinction in all or a significant portion of their range) or (2) "threatened" (likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future). Those determinations must be made solely on the basis of the best available scientific information, without regard to the costs of conservation.Listed species are protected against careless extermination. Federal agencies are required to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service and NMFS to make sure that actions they take, authorize, or fund, are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species. Federal agencies also are supposed to develop programs for species conservation.Private actors may not deliberately harm, capture, or traffic in endangered species. They also may not engage in actions that incidentally harm endangered species without a permit. Permit applicants must agree to reduce or compensate for the effect of their actions on listed species to the extent practicable, and they must establish that their actions will not jeopardize the continued existence of the species. Threatened species can be given less protection against harm by private actors than endangered species, but must be sufficiently protected to allow them to recover to the point where they no longer need protection. A deliberate choice can be made to take an action that will jeopardize the continued existence of a species, but that choice requires careful consideration. A cabinet-level committee (sometimes referred to as the "God Squad") must determine that (1) the proposed action is of national or regional importance and (2) there are no alternatives that would allow the action to go forward but would still conserve the species.**__

__**QUOTES**__ We want to ensure the state wildlife agencies are following the letter of the law and doing everything they can to protect species listed in the **Endangered Species**Act. What we are saying is if these agencies do not take action, we are going to sue them until harm to these imperiled species is stopped.

We felt that it was a tremendous opportunity. There are more **endangered species** on military facilities than on any other federal lands. They contain some incredibly important habitat, and species depend on it. ~ Steven McCormick quotes

In raising the consciousness of the public to the plight of many small, wild cats, the Bengal and some other hybrids can be like a signpost pointing the way to a broad and unselfish commitment to save not only **endangered species** but those whose fate may also one day become inevitable. ~ Ian Anderson quotes

[It's easy to wax satirical about the possibility that in some future time there could be more poets laureate in Colorado than readers of poetry. The fact is, poetry is an**endangered species**, and even those of us with a more prosaic bent can appreciate the importance of encouraging a broader audience. Of course, even poets have different views of what they do. Pablo Neruda wrote, for example, that] poetry is an act of peace, ... Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat. ~ Robert Frost quotes

Today, private landowners live in fear of the ESA. Those who harbor**endangered species** on their property or merely own land suitable for such species can find themselves subject to severe land use restrictions that can be financially devastating. This creates a perverse incentive for landowners to preemptively 'sterilize' their land to keep rare species away. Such sterilizations benefit no one--least of all the species the ESA was established to protect. ~ David Ridenour quotes