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The UN has seventeen goals for sustainable living. Number fifteen is all about Life on Earth, and how preserving animal species, their habits, and their ecosystems is key to living on a sustainable planet. In this journal, we explore a dataset showing 39 countries' amount and kinds of endangered animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, marine fish, freshwater fish, amphibians, vascular plants, mosses, lichen, and invertebrates. We then compare this data to the country's reported national yield land statistics to look for patterns or connections.
Numbers of threatened animal types across 39 countries
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According to this graph, the country with the highest reported amount of threatened species would be Germany, with Iceland and Russia having reported little to none. The disparity between countries is extremely large and there is not a followed pattern in any way.
The Disparity Between Kingdoms
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After seeing the graph with the total numbers, we divided it into each country's individual numbers and put it on a slightly smaller scale with twenty countries. The grand total being in the light blue, observing the graph shows that marine fish far outweigh majority of the other animals being reported as endangered in countries. The ocean's temperature is slowly rising due to climate change which has resulted in many ocean species becoming endangered or even extinct, and the data backs it up. Additionally, mosses, vascular plants, lichens, and other plant species do not have substantial numbers of endangered species as observed.
The Contrast between Countries
In order to visualize the difference of the animal types reported in the dataset, we observed the percentages from Canada and Japan, two countries on opposite sides of the globe.
It is observed in this graph that Japan has percentages high in freshwater fish and amphibians, while Canada has percentages high in reptiles and is more uniform among the rest.
The Footprints Being Made
We found another dataset which outlines the amount of land being used in each country along with what kind. In order to visualize it, we once again used Canada and Japan as examples so it is easier to compare.
There is a very obvious increase in the amount of marine fishing grounds being yielded. Both Canada and Japan have very little marine fish endangered species, Japan having none listed at all and Canada having a couple. However, this pattern of high marine fishing ground numbers does match up with the reported endangered species of other countries, where marine fish is at a high.
Why is it important?
It is extremely important to recognize the endangered ecosystems and animals of each country because a single species out of place can mean devastation for an ecosystem. For example, look at the 1995 reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone. The last wolves had been killed off in the 1920s, and it had been functioning without since then. In January 1995, fourteen gray wolves were released back into the wild. Firstly, by driving off the elk and deer, riverbanks and the plant wildlife were able to grow back without being eaten. The beavers then returned to cut down the trees and create dams. The otters and muskrats returned to live in and around the new dams. The wolves also helped to drive off coyotes, which allowed the mice population to grow back, which brought back eagles and other birds of prey to hunt the mice. A single species being brought back to its native ecosystem completely changed the land and life around it.
Watch this YouTube video to learn more about the details!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q&ab_channel=SustainableHuman
Our Conclusion
Classifications of endangered animals across countries around the world are not anywhere similar to each other and animals everywhere are under threat of extinction and loss of ecosystem. While the causes of these losses are not completely under our control, it is still important to recognize the issue and the disparity across countries.
Datasets:
https://stats.oecd.org/viewhtml.aspx?datasetcode=WILD_LIFE&lang=en
Yellowstone Experiment:
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