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Endangered and Threatened Plants and Animals

The Federal Endangered Species Act was passed by the United States Congress to protect certain species of plants and animals. Approximately 1,000 species of flora and fauna are listed across the nation as threatened or endangered. State and federal programs and laws affect privately owned property, as 75 percent of the species live on private land.

Endangered
- In 1973 the Federal Endangered Species Act defined two categories of dwindling plant and animal species in need of federal protection. Any species of native plant or animal in imminent danger of extinction is endangered. It can be endangered in any part or throughout its entire habitat range. Endangerment results from the loss or radical change in a species' environment from human development or natural causes. Over-exploitation by hunters or predators may lead to endangerment, along with disease, contamination or competition from invasive species.
Threatened
- Threatened species are those that may become endangered due to deteriorating environmental conditions. The species' prospects for long-term survival are bad enough to qualify them for federal or state government protection. Threatened species face endangerment in the near future from habitat degradation. A species can be endangered in part of its range and threatened in another part, or vice versa. Species listed as threatened may be downgraded to endangered or taken off the list as their numbers increase.
Animals
- As of March, 2011, the United States government lists 415 endangered animal species and 164 threatened species. The endangered and threatened (number in parentheses) species include 69 (14) mammals, 13 (24) reptiles, 14 (10) amphibians, 73 (66) fishes, 63 (8) clams, 25 (11) snails, 50 (10)kinds of insects, 12 (0) arachnids, 19 (3) crustaceans and 77 (16) birds. Some endangered animals are blue, humpback, right and sperm whales along with bald eagles, peregrine falcons and piping plovers. Several species of bats, sea turtles, mussels and beetles are also listed.
Plants
- A total of 644 plant species are considered endangered, with 148 listed as threatened. These numbers include 613 different types of endangered flowering plants and 145 threatened flowers. Two species of conifers and cycads are endangered, and one species is threatened. There are 27 ferns and allied plants in the United States in danger of extinction and 2 species threatened. Two kinds of lichens are endangered. Some endangered plants are the eastern and western prairie fringed orchid, the Missouri bladderpod and the Michigan monkey-flower.

Nature