Why do animals and plants become endangered?
Generally speaking, endangered species are those animals and plants that are in decline and may be in danger of extinction. A threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.
Related Content
What is the threat from West Nile Virus (WNV) to endangered and threatened bird species?
Where are salmon most endangered?
Are salmon endangered worldwide?
What are the differences between endangered, threatened, imperiled, and at-risk species?
What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?
Early action to address an emerging wildlife disease
A deadly fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) that affects amphibian skin was discovered during a die-off of European fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) in 2014. This pathogen has the potential to worsen already severe worldwide amphibian declines. Bsal is a close relative to another fungal disease known as...
Adams, M.J.; Harris, M. Camille; Grear, Daniel A.
Birds of a feather
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasiunus, hereafter sage-grouse) are broadly distributed, occupy a diversity of sagebrush habitats, and face multiple threats. As a result of these threats, sage-grouse populations are declining and are now absent from almost one-half of their estimated range prior to Euro-American settlement. The risks to...
Knick, Steven T.; Gondhaleker, Carmen
White-nose syndrome in bats: U.S. Geological Survey updates
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a devastating disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats since it first appeared in New York in 2007 and has spread at an alarming rate from the northeastern to the central United States and Canada. The disease is named for the white fungus Geomyces destructans that infects the skin of the muzzle, ears, and...
Rogall, Gail Moede; Verant, Michelle
Understanding the Habitat Needs of the Declining Western Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
The western yellow-billed cuckoo, once common along the streams and rivers of the American West, is now a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Most of the remaining breeding pairs are found in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Research to understand the cuckoos' habitat needs by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Northern...
Johnson, Matthew J.
Lead poisoning in wild birds
Lead in its various forms has been used for thousands of years, originally in cooking utensils and glazes and more recently in many industrial and commercial applications. However, lead is a potent, potentially deadly toxin that damages many organs in the body and can affect all animals, including humans. By the mid 1990s, lead had been removed...
Lahner, Lesanna L.; Franson, J. Christian
Status and Trends of the Grand Canyon Population of Humpback Chub
The Colorado River Basin supports one of the most distinctive fish communities in North America, including the federally endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha). One of only six remaining populations of this fish is found in Grand Canyon, Arizona. U.S. Geological Survey scientists and their cooperators are responsible for monitoring the Grand Canyon...
Andersen, Matthew E.
Protecting Black-Footed Ferrets and Prairie Dogs Against Sylvatic Plague
Scientists at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC), in collaboration with colleagues at other federal agencies and the University of Wisconsin, are developing and testing vaccines that can be used to protect black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs against plague. The black-footed ferret is commonly regarded as the most endangered mammal...
Rocke, Tonie E.
A conceptual life-history model for pallid and shovelnose sturgeon
Intensive management of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers has resulted in dramatic physical changes to these rivers. These changes have been implicated as causative agents in the decline of pallid sturgeon. The pallid sturgeon, federally listed as endangered, is endemic to the turbid waters of the Missouri River and the Lower Mississippi River....
Wildhaber, Mark L.; DeLonay, Aaron J.; Papoulias, Diana M.; Galat, David L.; Jacobson, Robert B.; Simpkins, Darin G.; Braaten, P. J.; Korschgen, Carl E.; Mac, Michael J.
Palila Restoration: Lessons from Long-term Research
BACKGROUND The palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a member of the Hawaiian honeycreeper family of birds (Drepanidinae), which is renowned for the profusion of species - many with bizarre bills and specialized feeding habits - that radiated from a single ancestral type. Most of the 57 or so honeycreeper species are extinct, and the palila is...
A Century of Habitat Loss Affects Genetics of Endangered Bird
A new study analyzes the genetic diversity and population structure of the California Ridgway’s rail, Rallus obsoletus, a state and federally-listed endangered bird. The results demonstrate that the so-called “rails” are experiencing negative genetic effects following more than a century of salt marsh habitat loss from agriculture, commercial salt production and urban development.
A Deadly Double Punch: Together, Turbines and Disease Jeopardize Endangered Bats
Declining Male Offspring Further Imperil Endangered Flycatchers in Southern California
A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications documents the steep decline of a population of endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatchers over 16 years—and the change in the sex ratio that has left the birds’ future hanging on a dwindling number of males.
Drought and Wildfires Threaten the Endangered Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog (Los Angeles Times)
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Wildfires are affecting endangered Mountain yellow-legged frogs in San Diego and other counties.
Community flood protection may also help endangered salmon to thrive
Building a river setback levee to reduce the risk of flood for a community may also help endangered fish species to thrive, according to the results of a novel computer model reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Culprit Identified in Decline of Endangered Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon
BOZEMAN – Pallid sturgeon come from a genetic line that has lived on this planet for tens of millions of years; yet it has been decades since anyone has documented any of the enormous fish successfully producing young that survive to adulthood in the upper Missouri River basin.
Biologists Rediscover Endangered Frog Population
For the first time in nearly 50 years, a population of a nearly extinct frog has been rediscovered in the San Bernardino National Forest's San Jacinto Wilderness.
Endangered Desert Pupfish found in Research Ponds near the Salton Sea, Calif.
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have discovered a population of the endangered desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius)in constructed ponds along the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea, in south-central California.
A First: Endangered Puaiohi Birds Fledge Four Chicks in the Wild
A highly endangered native Hawaiian bird species has taken a small but significant step back from the brink of extinction. USGS biologists monitoring 14 captive-reared puaiohi released into the wild earlier this year by The Peregrine Fund say the birds are nesting and have already fledged four young.
Endangered Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis
Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis)
An Indiana bat hanging on to a tree. (Myotis sodalis)
Endangered Sonoran Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi)
A green and black endangered Sonoran tiger salamander (Ambystoma mavortium stebbinsi) on a tree branch
Green Sea Turtle Swimming in Dry Tortugas National Park
Green Sea Turtle Swimming in Dry Tortugas National Park
An Endangered Puaiohi (Small Mountain Thrush) in Hawaii
Many species of Hawaiian honeycreepers have persisted into the 20th century because high elevation rain forests on the islands of Kaua’i, Maui, and Hawai'i are cool enough to limit transmission of introduced avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum). Malaria transmission is tied closely to the effects of temperature on development of malarial parasites within their mosquito
...
Pima pineapple cactus
Pima pineapple cactus and vegetative offshoot, commonly called a pup, in the Altar Valley of south-central Arizona (November 2014).
An Endangered Yellow-Legged Frog
USGS biologists are leading the monitoring and reintroduction effort of the Southern California mountain yellow-legged frog -- federally listed as endangered with only 200 wild adults remaining in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles County.
An Endangered Humpback Chub
The Colorado River basin supports one of the most distinctive fish communities in North America, including the federally endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha). One of only six remaining populations of this fish is found in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. USGS scientists and their cooperators are responsible for monitoring the Grand Canyon population. The number Grand
...
Big Invaders and Tiny Fish: Endangered Species Day
Kids! Listen up—it's Endangered Species Day, and we have two podcasts for you: giant, invasive predators that eat endangered animals, and the tiny Devil's Hole pupfish, which lives on a watery shelf no bigger than a walk-in closet.
Shaken, Not Stirred—Watch Devils Hole pupfish deal with a large earthquake that causes
...