Endangered, Invasive, Keystone, Threatened, Extinct, Indicator

species By Catie Crowley

Common name- Lowland Gorilla

Scientific Name- Gorilla gorilla

Endangered Species Lowland gorilla

Habitat- Low land gorillas tend to live in swamp and dry lands. Throughout Western Equatorial Africa. Their also extremely common where the ground has vegetation of monocotyledonous plants.

Endangered Species

Characteristics and traits- There the largest of all primates. There stomachs are larger than their chests due to large intestine size because they digest bulky vegetation. They also have shorter sparse hair. They have 32 teeth. They also do not have tails. They live in groups usually dominated by one male. Their also very protective.

Niche- Lowland gorillas are herbivores. They eat mainly leaves and stems. They usually build nests on the ground or in trees. 5-10 individuals per troop.

Past population- 150,000-250,000

Current population- Between 2005-2013 declined by 18.7% but exact population is about few hundred thousand it’s still being evaluated.

Endangered Species

Causes of endangerment- Ebola is an occurring event that is affecting the gorilla population. Gorillas are also killed for bush meat which causes spreading of Ebola through the unsanitary means.

Solutions to help keep the population stable- They have been doing research to create a vaccine to help combat Ebola in gorillas. Also they have been creating ways for ecotourism which helps create funds for the gorillas to get proper care.

The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and Great Ape Conservation Fund plant to create funds and help build the capacity for the gorillas.

Endangered Species

Common name- Green sea turtle

Scientific name- Chelonia mydas

Threatened Species Green sea turtle

Habitat- Mainly near the coastline or around islands. Their found in all temperate and tropical waters around the world.

Threatened Species

Characteristics and traits- They have a single pair of scales in front of their eyes. Their body's are small with a serrated jaw. All their flippers have one visible claw. Their about 3-4 feet in length. They weigh about 240-420 pounds.

Niche- They eat about 8-10 inches of worms. Also they eat a lot of sea grass and algae. They are strictly herbivores as adults. Their jaws are finely serrated to help in eating vegetation.

Past and current population- Its stated that there is about 85,000-90,000 nesting females based on ICUN red list the population is decreasing. Its hard for them to generate a direct number since they live in all various parts of the world.

Threatened Species

Causes of endangerment- Overharvesting and illegal trade is one of the issues effecting the turtles. Uncontrolled coastal development affects the turtles and affects their nesting locations which can cause populations to not be able to develop.

Solutions to help the Turtles- They have created these turtle hooks which are turtle friendly. They have created safe places for the turtles to nest so there babies wont be affected by factors like human development.

Threated Species

Common name- Western Black Rhino

Scientific name- Diceros bicornis

Extinct Species Western Black Rhino

Habitat- They live in tropical and subtropical grasslands. They also live in savannahs, shrub lands, and deserts. It tends to be afrotropical.

Extinct Species

Characteristics and traits- The rhinos have thick skin to help protect them from grasses and such. The have very poor eyesight so they depend on their hearing mostly. They also have large tusks which are made out of ivory. They also have mites and ticks living on them.

Niche- They are considered browsers so most of their food comes from trees and bushes. They also eat fruits. Their considered herbivores.

Past population- In the begging of the 20th century there population was over 1 million rhinos.

Current population- Extinct since 2011

Extinct Species

Cause of extinction- Due to high demand for ivory many rhinos were killed for use of their tusk’s HORNS. Tusks are able to be removed and the animal will be fine but poachers would incorrectly and aggressively saw them off and would go way to deep past skin and bone just to receive the most ivory from the tusk. Also has the population continued to decline due to the sudden reduction of genetic diversity.

Prevention actions- Eventually when the population was so small they took them to a safe location where they can roam under the watch of guards. Their were also laws against poaching. People clearly didn’t follow them but their was action in law making.

Extinct Species

Affect on the ecosystem- Rhinos put a high dependence on plant species since they are herbivores which will cause over growth of those plants. Also the change affected other plant communities which resulted in other communities becoming extinct. A lot of research and data has shown that grazers are important for ecosystems to function.

Extinct Species

Common name- West Indian Manatee

Scientific name- Trichechus manatus

Indicator Species West Indian Manatee

Habitat- Shallow slow moving areas. Some examples are estuaries, canals, and saltwater bays. They usually are migratory species in the United States.

Indicator Species

Characteristics- Gentle animals that spend most of their time resting or eating. They weigh between 800-1200 pounds. Their about 10 feet long. They eat about 10-15% of their weight in vegetation everyday. They are gray and have flippers. On each flipper is 3-4 nails. They also live to be 60+ years.

Niche- They are primarily herbivores. They feed on various floating plants.

Indicator Species

Why it is an indicator species- Manatees give people early warning signs of environmental changes. They can indicate these things quicker than humans and other animals. Studying them can help others be pre warned of environmental changes which can save other animals if the change is harmful.

Positive or negative- This species indicates a negative indication of environmental change but its positive since they notice it before any of us it helps us prepare. So it is both positive and negative.

Protections- They are protected over the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 which prevents any killing, hunting, capturing, or harassing marine mammals. There is also a recovery plan for the manatees since they are considered endangered.

Indicator Species

Common name- Grizzly bear

Scientific name- Ursus arctos

Keystone Species Grizzly Bear

Habitat- Grizzly bears are found mostly every where with forest in the united states. Their history dates back to show they come from Alaska to Mexico and from California to Ohio. Grizzly bears live in a variety of locations from dense forests to subalpine plains. There populations in Europe are because of the bears search for forest untouched by humans.

Keystone Species

Characteristics- Grizzly's are not territorial animals. They are about 6-7 feet in length. They have white tips at the ends of their hairs which give them a grizzled appearance. They live to be about 25 years old. Their top speed is 35 mph. Mother grizzly bears leave their cubs after about 2-3 years. They tend to be dark brown in color.

Niche- Grizzly bears are considered omnivores they eat fruits, nuts, seeds, and berries etc. They also feed on animals like deer, elk, and fish. They also have a period of 2-4 months prior to winter where they eat more and they gain on average 3 pounds a day.

Keystone Species

Adaptions- one adaption bears have is their teeth. Since they are omnivores their teeth are a mix of herbivore and carnivore teeth. Their teeth help them with catching prey. Since the Grizzly bear is a type of predator he has different eye holes which help in him being able to see his prey with a better depth perception.

Species relying- Lots of species rely on the Grizzly bear. One species is deer, they rely on bears to help them keep their population down and without them deer would overpopulate causing a decline in the rest of the ecosystem. Another specie is plants. Bears help aid in distribution of berries seeds and nuts since they help in this process without bears their would be less plants since the bears aren't helping spread the seeds.

Protections- They stopped grizzly hunting in nation parks which immensely helped in mantaing the bear population. Since it was on a decline. They also created the Grizzly Bear Study Team which helps in observing what they do and how they react to the world

Keystone Species

Common name- Zebra Mussel

Scientific name- Dreissena polymorpha

Invasive Species Zebra Mussel

Characteristics- Zebra Mussels produce about 5 million eggs per year. They were introduced in 1988. They usually have a stripped pattern on their backs which is where they get the name zebra. They grow to a max length of 2 inches. Their shells tend to be D shaped.

Native range/niche- Zebra mussels are native to Eurasia. They tend to filter water around them for the plankton.

New range/niche- They started off in Lake George in 1989. They then spread around the U.S in various water ways. They are attracted to ballast water. They still also filter water for plankton.

Invasive Species

Adaptions- Zebra mussels didn’t need many adaptions to adjust because they hold many advantages over the native species of mussels that their able to dominate effortlessly.

Effect on ecosystem- They have caused a shift in the energy distribution through the food chain. They also help the growth of blue-green algae which is harmful. Many worry that the amount of fish In these waters will decline.

Invasive Species

Plan to abolish- They created Zequanox to try and kill off the zebra mussels. Along with other chemicals prior to winter in 2015 but once winter hit and the ice froze over the lakes they didn’t see any signs of Zebra mussels. The only issue is they have to wait a few years until they can declare that the Zebra mussels are fully gone.

Invasive Species

http://www.lpzoo.org/animal/western-lowland-gorilla

http://www.worldwildlife.org/

http://www.iucnredlist.org/

https://seaworld.org/

http://conservationmagazine.org/

http://www.nwf.org/

http://www.defenders.org/

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

https://nas.er.usgs.gov

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/

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