Custom essays on Endangered Species

Scientists distinguish four reasons for concern about extinction (“Why protect biodiversity and save endangered species?”):
1. Extinction of species as biological entities;
2. Destabilization of ecosystems;
3. Threat to other species;
4. Loss of irreplaceable genetic material.
Species extinction is a critical factor as both a reduction of the wealth of nature, and a moral issue for those who believe that people must preserve the natural environment (as well as for those who believe that animals have legal rights).
Destabilization is well understood, when a link of the food chain disappears from the ecosystem. When one species disappears, there often emerge population changes in the number of secondary species. A situation may arise when the ecosystem will change significantly and irreversibly.
The fourth reason is more subtle, but it is perhaps the most important point for humanity. Each species has a unique genetic material in its DNA and produces unique chemical compounds according to genetic instructions laid in them. For example, in the valleys of central China, there grows sweet wormwood, a plant, which is the sole source of artemisinin – a drug that nearly 100% effective against malaria. If this plant is gone, the control of malaria would have declined. There are many other examples of chemical compounds that are unique to certain species. The number of as yet undiscovered compounds that may disappear as a result of extinction of species cannot be determined, but this is the reason that causes much controversy, and, without doubt, is very important (“Why protect biodiversity and save endangered species?”).
Plants and animals are important to people for many different reasons: not just because they look beautiful, but also because we all would have died without them. Plants and animals recover naturally occurring substance necessary for life.
If people protect endangered species, preserving wildlife in their habitats, in the future animals will help people solve their world problems. For example, recently it has been discovered that the tree from the species of chestnut gives substance that may help treat AIDS.
Still currently, the number of wild animals on the planet is rapidly declining. Since 1970, their number on land has decreased by a quarter, while the situation with marine animals is even worse. The reason for this is the pollution of the planet, agricultural activities, and the growth of cities. In the next 30 years, the global climate change will add its contribution too. If the trend continues, after a century the familiar fauna on the planet will disappear completely (“Protecting Threatened and Endangered Species”).
The diversity of wildlife on earth reduces by 1% annually. This conclusion was made by scientists from Zoological Society of London in a study conducted jointly with the wildlife research and conservation organization Global Footprint Network. Specialists of Zoological Society designed an index of living planet, which basing on scientific publications and databases has traced the situation of more than 1500 species of animals. It has been found that as the result of destructive impact of humans the number of wild animals actually declined by one third since 1970 to 2005 (“Protecting Threatened and Endangered Species”).
For example, on land the animal population has decreased by 25%; in the rivers – up to 29%; and in the seas and oceans – 28%. These figures are considered the most alarming since the extinction of dinosaurs (“Species Profiles”). Regarding the timeline of human development, these changes could be considered insignificant, however, the disappearance of one third of the animal world in just one shift of generation has been never observed before.
One of the species, which is attributed by scientists to the high risk zone, is the dolphin of the Yangtze River. Swordfish and hammer-head are also recognized as the most affected species (“Species Profiles”). All the factors that led to the extinction of the species like collisions with boats, reduction of habitat and pollution of rivers are the factors formed by human activities. In addition, the causes of extinction of rare species include irrational use of natural resources, climate change and the spread of invasive plants and animals, which constitute one of the major threats to biological diversity.
Thus, in early January 2008 this issue was seriously discusses by the Federal Office for Nature Protection in Germany. In the department’s data, global warming could lead to a loss of 30% of plant and animal world; thousands of species could die unnoticed. The death of animals will be accompanied by their assimilation with migrating individuals, especially from the south, as well as the increasing proliferation of vectors of various diseases that can cause serious damage to the man as such, destroying crops and fueling the epidemics (“Why protect biodiversity and save endangered species?”).