FAQ's about Endangered Species

Bats are among the world's least appreciated and most endangered animals. The USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center's pages on bats can be found at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals/okbats/ and include links to other sources of information. A delightful educational site, "Echo the Bat," can be accessed at http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/. The Teachers' Guide contains links to bat conservation organizations and other sources of information.

Bat Conservation International has an extensive site at http://www.batcon.org and provides a wealth of information, including volunteer opportunities and bat workshop schedules.

The USGS Wildlife: Terrestrial and Endangered Species Program conducts research and monitoring to conserve, protect, and restore declining species and the habitats they depend on. For more information on these activities go to the USGS imperiled species website.

Highlights of new ground-breaking USGS research on endangered plants and animals has just been released in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a publication called the Endangered Species Bulletin (PDF).

It boils down to a fundamentally basic concept: Manatees are part of a system. If you remove any component from a system, there will be an effect on something else. For example, manatees could die if we kill most of the plants they depend on for food. On the other hand, manatees help control the vegetation that can obstruct Florida waterways. They also provide a benefit by processing the vegetation they eat and passing it back out into the environment as a form of fertilizer. Ecotourism forms the basis for a flourishing tourist industry in Florida. Close to 70,000 people visit Crystal River every year just to see and swim with manatees, thus helping the local economy. There is an aesthetic value to manatees as well. They are fun to watch and we can learn a lot from their non-aggressive, passive demeanor. Protecting endangered and threatened species and restoring them to a secure status in the wild is the primary objective of the endangered species program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. The Endangered Species Web site can be accessed at http://endangered.fws.gov.

Following a rigorous protocol, BBS data are collected by thousands of dedicated participants along thousands of randomly established roadside routes throughout the continent. Professional BBS coordinators and data managers work closely with researchers and statisticians to compile and deliver these population data and population trend analyses on more than 400 bird species, for use by conservation managers, scientists, and the general public.

For more information on the BBS go to: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/.

If you're interested in becoming involved in the North American Breeding Bird Survey, go to: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/participate/

Declines in several amphibian species have been studied for the past 20 years. More recent concern about deformed frogs arose with the discovery of large numbers of deformed leopard frogs in Minnesota in 1995. But scientists who have studied amphibian declines and deformities agree that deformities are unlikely to have caused the extensive, well-documented declines of many amphibian species worldwide. USGS scientists have described severe declines of several amphibian species in Colorado and California. Although they have observed that many species are absent from historically documented localities, often in national parks and wilderness areas, they have rarely observed deformities. For example, USGS scientist Dr. Gary Fellers has studied declining amphibian populations in California for the last 9 years. He and his field crews have visited over 4,500 sites and examined over 8,000 frogs and toads. Fewer than 10 of these individuals had any type of deformity.

The recent research on deformities provides additional evidence that deformed frogs may occur naturally as a result of parasite infections. But it does not prove that all deformities are caused by parasites nor that global species declines are associated with deformities. It is probable that deformities in different localities have different causes. In the Upper Midwest, deformities similar to those in wild frogs have been produced in laboratory-reared frogs exposed to water and soil extracts from sites where deformed frogs have been studied. Extracts did not contain the parasite (metacercariae) but did contain chemicals present when samples were taken. Thus, chemical causes of deformities should continue to be explored. In studies of deformed leopard frogs in Midwestern and Northeastern states, scientists at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center did not find parasites (metacercariae) in the limb buds of the developing tadpoles and they have not yet found evidence that a parasite influenced limb development in these tadpoles.

A variety of mechanisms, including habitat alteration and destruction, introduction of exotic predators, disease, and possibly airborne contaminants, have brought about amphibian declines. For several declining species, such as the boreal toad in the Rocky Mountains or several species studied by Dr. Fellers in the Sierra Nevada, the agents have not been discovered. This is cause for concern because these studies have been conducted in undisturbed or protected locations.

The USGS is continuing research on the causes of amphibian declines. We believe that this research will lead to a better understanding of why we are losing frogs and toads in the very parks and wilderness areas where we would expect them to be best protected.

If you have an interest in these topics, we suggest that you visit http://biology.usgs.gov/frog.html, http://www.nwf.org/frogwatchusa/, and http://www.frogweb.gov/index.html. All of these sites contain many links to related amphibian information.

Amphibians are good indicators of significant environmental changes. Amphibians, unlike people, breathe at least partly through their skin, which is constantly exposed to everything in their environment. Consequently, their bodies are much more sensitive to environmental factors such as disease, pollution, toxic chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, and habitat destruction. The worldwide occurrences of amphibian declines and deformities could be an early warning that some of our ecosystems--even seemingly pristine ones--are seriously out of balance.

The worldwide pattern of amphibian declines includes both loss of populations from parts of species' ranges--the pattern seen in Australia and Central American tropics with stream frogs - - and declines of entire species, such as ranid frogs in California and the Southwest, and the "poster frogs" for amphibian declines, the golden toad in Costa Rica and an Australian frog that broods its young in its stomach.

There does not appear to be one "smoking gun"; numerous environmental factors are probably responsible for the declines and deformities. Limited research findings and anecdotal information suggest several possible causes, including habitat loss, introduction of non-native predators such as fishes and bullfrogs, disease, and possibly airborne contaminants. Scientists who have studied amphibian declines and deformities agree that the deformities are unlikely to have caused the extensive, well-documented declines of many amphibian species worldwide. Deformities in different localities probably have different causes. Recent USGS research indicates that some malformations may have both site-specific and time-dependent causes.

The National Biological Information Infrastructure — the NBII — is a USGS-led initiative dedicated to the development of an electronic federation of biological data and information sources. The NBII maintains an Education site containing links to a variety of age-specific materials. The Baltimore Public Library's Science Fair Web pages take you through a step-by-step science fair primer. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture site, Kid's Science Page, contains a wealth of information and links.

For the calendar year 2001, 1,049,646 birds were banded in the United States and Canada, and 97,204 recoveries were reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory. These included birds from the following groups:

• Ducks 222,006 banded; 48,576 recovered
• Geese (includes Brant) 132,295 banded; 39,766 recovered
• Swans 1,063 banded; 555 recovered
• Doves 4,329 banded; 156 recovered
• Woodcock 934 banded; 94 recovered
• Nongame 689,019 banded; 8057 recovered

Included in Nongame birds are hawks and owls, most (non-waterfowl) endangered species, wading birds, and songbirds (including neotropical migrants) as well as other birds that are not eaten as game.

Where are the grouse, quail, turkey, pheasant? These birds are no longer banded with federal bands. Each state or province uses their own bands on these birds, as they are not covered by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

In 2001, the following Nongame birds were banded or recovered:

• Eagles 539 banded; 159 recovered
• Hawks and Owls other than eagles 43,249 banded; 1500 recovered
• Herons, Egrets, Ibis, and Bitterns 864 banded; 19 recovered
• Gulls and Terns 54,397 banded; 1341 recovered
• Shorebirds 16,320 banded; 136 recovered
• Vireos and Warblers 131,110 banded; 89 recovered

Of course, there are many other groups that are not listed!

Birds Banded and Recovered by Species Number

Summarized Counts of How many Birds were Banded

There are many different reasons for why animals become endangered, especially habitat loss. An animal's habitat is where they live, eat, and raise their young. Protecting endangered and threatened species and restoring them to a secure status in the wild is the primary objective of the endangered species program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. Their Endangered Species Web site can be accessed at http://endangered.fws.gov.

The USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center in Flagstaff, Arizona conducts at least eight trips each year to look at endangered fish populations and although we are interested in all of the fish in the Grand Canyon, they are especially interested in the endangered humpback chub. Of those eight trips, six of them are up the Little Colorado River because that's where humpback chub spawn in the Grand Canyon and thus have a better chance of studying the humpback chub. The remaining two trips are going down the mainstem Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

USGS's Status and Trends of Biological Resources Program supports and provides the collection and analysis of biological data for use by natural resource managers, scientists, and the general public.

The Program's mission is to:

• Measure - the status and trends of our living resources
• Assess - the status and trends of our living resources
• Predict - the status and trends of our living resources
• Report - the status and trends of our living resources

Determining the status (abundance, distribution, productivity, and health) and trends (how these variables change over time) of our living resources is critical for their protection or restoration.