Endangered and Extinct Species 379degraded each year. The forests are making way for human
settlements, banana plantations, oil and mineral explora-
tions, and other human activities. (For further discussion of
tropical rain forests, see Chapters 6 and 13.)
Tropical rain forests are home to thousands or even
millions of species. Many species in tropical rain forests
are endemic (that is, they are
not found anywhere else in the
world), and the clearing of tropi-
cal rain forests contributes to
their extinction.Areas of Declining Biological Diversity
Declining biological diversity is a concern throughout
the United States but is most serious in the states of
Hawaii (where 63 percent of species are at risk) and Cal-
ifornia (where about 29 percent of species are at risk).
At least two-thirds of Hawaii’s native forests are gone.
As serious as declining biological diversity is in the
United States, it is even more serious abroad, particularly in
tropical rain forests. Tropical rain forests are being destroyed
faster than almost all other ecosystems; approximately 1
percent of these ecosystems are being cleared or severely
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Officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that more than 500 U.S. species have become
extinct during the past 200 years. Of these, roughly half have become extinct since 1980.
endemic species
Organisms that are
native to or confined
to a particular region.JoelSartore/NG
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Image CollectionJoel Sartore/ NG Image CollectionJoel Sartore/NG Image CollectionJoel Sartore/NG Image CollectionJoel Sartore/NG Image Collection Joel Sartore/NG Image CollectionJoel Sartore/NG Image CollectionTom McHugh / Science SourceMichael Nichols/NG Image CollectionJoel Sartore/NG Image CollectionJason Edwards/NG Image CollectionJason Edwards/NG Image CollectionPuerto Rican crested toad Fringed campion Snow leopardGolden lion tamarin Yellow-blotched map turtle Loggerhead sea turtle Texas blind salamanderBoulder darter Delhi Sands flower-loving fly Hawaiian goose Polar bearCoelacanth Mexican spotted owlWolverine Tiger Mount Graham red squirrelIvory-billed woodpeckerDusky seaside sparrowEXTINCT?EXTINCTPynes ground-plumPynes ground-plumWhite rhinocerosWhite rhinoceros