Introduction:
Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global organization that assesses the conservation status of biodiversity around the world. This results in the production of the Red List of Threatened Species, which is a catalog of the relative risk of extinction for species spanning the globe. The information can be used to understand the current state of biodiversity, the human impact on species, and the needs and opportunities for conservation. The IUCN data and reports are made public online and can be accessed by visiting http://www.iucnredlist.org/.
DATA SET:
The IUCN catalogs three categories of species that are facing challenges to their continued existence: Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable. Critically Endangered species are those that face an extremely high risk of extinction, Endangered are those with a high risk of extinction, and Vulnerable are those that are at risk of becoming Endangered. Together, these categories can be grouped under the term “Threatened.” View the graphs of Threatened species from the years 2000 and 2015. To do this, and to answer questions 1-3, you will need to use the drop down menu to switch from Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable for the years in question.
Congratulations! You have completed this activity.