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Threatened species
 
 
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Threatened species are any species (including animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s, plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, fungi
Fungus

A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....
, etc.) which are vulnerable to extinction
Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the death of every member of a species or group of taxon. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species ....
 in the near future. World Conservation Union
World Conservation Union

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to natural resource Conservation ethic....
 (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories: vulnerable
Vulnerable species

A vulnerable species is a species which is likely to become Endangered species unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve....
, endangered
Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters....
, and critically endangered, depending on the degree to which they are threatened.

Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics
Population dynamics

Population dynamics is the branch of life sciences that studies short- and long-term changes in the size and age composition of populations, and the biology and environment processes influencing those changes....
 measure of critical depensation
Critical depensation

In population dynamics, depensation is the effect on a population whereby, due to certain causes, a decrease in the breeding population leads to reduced survival and production of eggs or offspring....
, a mathematical measure of biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 related to population growth rate.






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Encyclopedia


Threatened species are any species (including animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s, plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, fungi
Fungus

A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....
, etc.) which are vulnerable to extinction
Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the death of every member of a species or group of taxon. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species ....
 in the near future. World Conservation Union
World Conservation Union

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to natural resource Conservation ethic....
 (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories: vulnerable
Vulnerable species

A vulnerable species is a species which is likely to become Endangered species unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve....
, endangered
Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters....
, and critically endangered, depending on the degree to which they are threatened.

Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics
Population dynamics

Population dynamics is the branch of life sciences that studies short- and long-term changes in the size and age composition of populations, and the biology and environment processes influencing those changes....
 measure of critical depensation
Critical depensation

In population dynamics, depensation is the effect on a population whereby, due to certain causes, a decrease in the breeding population leads to reduced survival and production of eggs or offspring....
, a mathematical measure of biomass
Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production....
 related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment.

Less-than-threatened categories are Near Threatened
Near Threatened

Near Threatened is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa that may be considered threatened species with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status....
, Least Concern
Least Concern

Least Concern is an World Conservation Union category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category....
, and the no longer assigned category of Conservation Dependent
Conservation Dependent

Conservation Dependent was an IUCN Red List assigned to species or lower taxa which were dependent on conservation efforts to prevent the taxon becoming threatened species with extinction....
. Species which have not been evaluated (NE), or do not have sufficient data (Data Deficient
Data Deficient

Data Deficient is a category applied by the IUCN to a species when the available information is not sufficient for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made....
) also are not considered "threatened" by the IUCN.

Although threatened and vulnerable may be used interchangeably when discussing IUCN categories, the term threatened is generally used to refer to the three categories (critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable), while vulnerable is used to refer to the least at risk of those three categories. They may be used interchangeably in most contexts however, as all vulnerable species are threatened species (vulnerable is a category of threatened species); and, as the more at-risk categories of threatened species (namely endangered and critically endangered) must, by definition, also qualify as vulnerable species, all threatened species may also be considered vulnerable.

Threatened species are also referred to as a red-listed
Red-listed

Red-listed species includes any indigenous species or subspecies considered to be extirpated, endangered, or threatened in their locale. Extirpated taxa no longer exist in the wild in the locale in which they are listed , but do occur elsewhere....
 species, as they are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Conservation movement status of plant and animal species....
.

Subspecies
Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
, populations and stocks may also be classified as threatened.

United States definition

Under the Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 or ESA is the most wide-ranging of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, "threatened" is defined as "any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range". It is the less protected the two protected categories. The Bay checkerspot butterfly
Bay checkerspot butterfly

The Bay checkerspot butterfly is a federally threatened species insect species which is native to the U.S. State of California. Since the 1980s the population of Checkerspots has been in serious decline....
 (Euphydryas editha bayensis) is an example of a threatened subspecies protected under the ESA.



See also

  • Biodiversity Action Plan
    Biodiversity Action Plan

    This article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP .A 'Biodiversity Action Plan' is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems....
  • IUCN Red List
    IUCN Red List

    The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Conservation movement status of plant and animal species....
  • Illegal logging
    Illegal logging

    Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of country laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agr...
  • Rare species
    Rare species

    A rare species is an organism which is very uncommon or scarce. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and may be distinct from the term "endangered species" or "threatened species"....
  • Red
    Red-listed

    Red-listed species includes any indigenous species or subspecies considered to be extirpated, endangered, or threatened in their locale. Extirpated taxa no longer exist in the wild in the locale in which they are listed , but do occur elsewhere....
     and Blue-listed
    Blue-listed

    Blue-listed species includes any indigenous species or subspecies considered to be vulnerable in their locale. Vulnerable taxa are of special concern because of characteristics that make them particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events....
  • Slash-and-burn
  • Threatened fauna of Australia


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