Endangered Species (plants and animals in danger of extinction)
Researched by Ashley K. 2002-03	RESEARCH REPORT  MY INTERVIEW  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ABOUT THE AUTHOR  PRODUCS I CREATED DEDICATION  WHY I CHOSE THIS TOPIC  SELF-EVALUATION  THANK YOU

 Endangered Species

Your favorite animals may be endangered species. Endangered species are plants and animals, all over the world, that are in danger of extinction. There are over 24,000 endangered species. There are over 5,000 endangered animals, and over 19,000 endangered plants. There are endangered species all around the world and all different types of species are endangered.

Status

The different endangered species categories in the world are the mammals, the birds, the reptiles, the amphibians, the fish, the clams, the snails, the insects, the arachnids, the crustaceans, and the flowering plants. Here is the status report on all of those categories: There are approximately 
* 91 endangered birds
* 76 endangered mammals 
* 36 endangered reptiles 
* 21 endangered amphibians 
* 115 endangered fish 
* 70 endangered clams 
* 35 endangered snails
* 44 endangered insects
* 12 endangered arachnids 
* 21 endangered crustaceans
* 594 endangered flowering plants
 Over 5,000 different species become extinct per year. Some are not even identified before they die and disappear. 

 Causes 

There are many different causes for endangerment and extinction. The main causes are habitat loss, pollution, hunting, competition from non-native plants and animals, plant collecting, logging, clearing forests, and trading animal parts. The growing population is also a cause of endangerment because man causes most problems.  Even though man causes a lot of endangerment, habitat loss is the main cause of extinction
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 Habitat Loss

Habitat loss causes the most endangerment and extinction. It can include logging and clearing forests. Plant collecting can also be included. Sometimes pollution can be a cause of habitat loss. The main causes of habitat loss are logging and clearing forests. 

 Adaptation

Environment changes can sometimes be a cause. Most of the time this is only a problem for the less adaptable species, which cannot survive through the changes, so they slowly become endangered species. There are a few animals that cannot adapt very well. Most plants cannot adapt very well.

 Ecosystem

The ecosystem is also important. The ecosystem is the balance of predator and prey. The ecosystem may not always be balanced, but that’s not a problem. The problem starts when a species goes extinct. When an animal species goes extinct its prey gets too plentiful, and the predators go extinct. Then the whole world would have trouble. When a species is endangered there is still time to help. When a species becomes extinct it is too late.Many endangered species may not survive for future generations. At the current rate 5,000 species become endangered every year. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Who I Interviewed And What I Learned I interviewed Scott McCorquodale on a Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at his house. Mr. McCorquodale was a good choice for me because he has a P.H.D. and works as a wildlife biologist. He told me that there are over 24,000 endangered species around the world. He told me that plants and animals have been becoming endangered since the beginning of time. He also told me that some species become extinct before they can be identified. He studies animals, but not too many endangered species. He works with elk and deer, but not too many more endangered species. He knows all about them and their problems. He can’t do much about them, but he still tries. He predicts that someday the endangered species will be saved from extinction, and other species will be saved from endangerment.

Bibliography Brown Partworks Ltd. Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World. Malaysia. 2001.  Fight For Survival. 2000. McCorquodale, Scott. Personal interview.  Date. "Endangered Species." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 2000. CD-ROM.

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