Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed 1280 species as threatened or endangered (as of July 2002) and identified over 250 additional organisms as candidate species. Although biologists are typically concerned with factors such as habitat loss, over‑harvesting, or introduction of exotic species, contaminants may exacerbate other factors to increase the likelihood of extinction, or pose catastrophic population extinction. Readily accessible data on the hazards that specific contaminants pose could provide important information to determine if a species should be listed as threatened or endangered and in evaluating recovery potential for that species. This database lists and ranks the effects of environmental contaminants and pollutants contributing to threatened and endangered species decline. The objectives of this project were to: 1) identify trends in listing years, recovery plan approvals, and plan revisions for major taxonomic groups of threatened and endangered species; 2) classify which major taxonomic groups of endangered species were most affected by contaminants and pollution; 3) describe the major contaminant and pollution sources and stressors contributing to the cause of decline of threatened and endangered species; 4) compare the contaminants affecting reclassified species (i.e., downlisted or delisted species) to those that have not been reclassified; 5) evaluate the contaminants affecting aquatic species and terrestrial species; 6) contrast the contaminants affecting vertebrate species and invertebrate species; and 7) make recommendations for future threatened and endangered species recovery plans. You can find more background information by accessing the key and documentation about the fields in this database. Also, to learn more about the US Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Recovery Plans, go here.

Information on these web pages should be cited as follows:

Fellows, Valerie. 2003. MS Thesis entitled "Pollution and Contaminants Contributing to Species Decline: An Analysis of Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Plans", University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.

Questions or comments?--email Dr. Hank Pattee

SEARCH THE BIRDS DATABASE	Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) USFWS Photo
SEARCH THE REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS DATABASE!	Shenandoah Salamander (Plethodon shenandoah)
SEARCH THE INVERTEBRATES DATABASE!	Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides Melissa Samuelis) (Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.)
SEARCH THE FISHES DATABASE!	Arkansas River Shiner (Notropis girardi) Photo by Ken Collins, USFWS
SEARCH THE MAMMALS DATABASE!	Delmarva Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) Photo by Lisa Paglione, USFWS