Endangered Species
 Invasive Species
 Reintroduced Species
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Definition: a species whose numbers are so small that the
species is at risk of extinction.
Common Reasons for Endangerment:
1. Habitat destruction
2. Introduction of exotic species
3. Overexploitation
4. Pollution
5. Limited distribution
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Help to conserve habitats
Make space for our wildlife
Reduce, reuse, and recycle
Plant native plants
Control introduced plants and animals
Animals:
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Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis)
Eastern Cougar/Puma(Puma concolor couguar)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Plants:
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Northeastern Bulrush (Scirpus ancistrochaetus)
Twig-Rush (Cladium mariscoides)
These bats are endangered because of habitat
loss due to tourism and mining. This started to
happen in the 1800s and then in 2007 they started
dying from a disease called white nose syndrome.
This is why the Indiana Bat is endangered.
The main reason these cougars are endangered is
because of deforestation in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Another reason their population decreased is their food
source was almost completely taken. As soon as deer hunting
became popular the cougar’s population numbers
decreased. This resulted in it becoming endangered.
These falcons are another victim to the DDT use
in the 60s and 70s. This resulted in their eggshells
becoming thin and the unborn chicks dying. DDT is
still used in other countries where the falcons
migrate to in the winter.
This plant is endangered because its habitat is being
destroyed or altered. When people fill in or dig out a
wetland it will change the water levels and cause this
plant to die. It is becoming more adaptive to these
changes though and will hopefully come off the
endangered species list.
This rush is quite abundant in other states. It is
endangered in PA because the waters it needs to
live in have to have pH levels that are high in
alkaline. The waters in PA don’t offer this pH level so
that is why they are endangered in PA.
Explanations
 Common ways they enter our country
 Negative effects
 Examples of invasive species
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Native Species- Native species are considered those that
are part of the composition of a natural representative
ecosystem of an area where a project site is located.
Introduced Species- An introduced, alien, exotic, nonindigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is
a species living outside its native distributional range, which
has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or
accidental
Invasive Species- an alien species whose introduction
does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or
harm to human health, as defined by the Department of
Agriculture.
Most common ways they enter our country:
 Introduced by humans
 Brought into the U.S. for a specific reason and
became invasive
 Unintentionally through storage crates shipped
from other countries
 Naturally through the course of nature
 Come in through soil from other regions in the world
Most common negative effects:
 They threaten native species
 Compete with other species for resources
 They degrade the natural resources
 They can effect waterways for example,
and indirectly effect humans
Animals:
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Bighead carp (Hypophtalmichtys nobilis)
Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar)
Emerald Ash Boring Beetle (Agrilus planipennis)
Plants:
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Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
Kudzu (Pueraria lobata)
Originated from Asia.
Niche in PA- Is a bottom-feeder and is eaten only by
people
Niche in Asia- Same as in PA
Introduced Environment- Lakes like Lake Erie
Problem- They compete with other fish for food and
make the other fish populations drop.
Originated from Asia.
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It feeds off of many trees in PA. It is responsible for
deforestation in other states like Michigan.
It has the same niche in Asia as in PA.
They eat all the leaves off trees and they can
destroy whole forests.
Originated in Asia.
These beetles eat just below the bark of ash trees and lay their
eggs there. Their larvae will then take the nutrients from the
tree and eventually kill the tree.
These beetles are responsible for over 2 billion dollars worth of
lumber being destroyed in the past few years. (Below is a
picture of a tree that has been killed)
Originated in Asia.
It will wrap around small saplings and form dense
mats in the canopies of trees. This creates shade for
the plants below and harms them greatly.
It is very dense so it provides cover and shelter for
some animals.
Originated from Japan.
It can provide shelter and cover for animals because
it is so dense. This also hurts other plants because
they aren’t getting the sunlight they need to
survive. It is spreading at 150,000 acres a year.
Reintroduced- A species that left the area
and then was put back into that area
Extirpated- A species that has become extinct
in a certain area.
American Elk (Cervus elaphus)
This animal was reintroduced in PA to help restore the
animal to its original area. They introduced 24 elk
from Wyoming and other western states to help get
the population of elk in PA up. It has been a
success, because in 2000 there were an estimated
566 elk living in PA.
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http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
http://www.easterncougar.org
www.defenders.org
http://www.fws.gov
http://www.endangeredspecie.com
http://books.google.com
http://alic.arid.arizona.edu
http://www.esa.org
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov
http://www.invasive.org
http://www.mhhe.com