Glossary of Endangered Species Act terms
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The following is a glossary of the terms used in the Endangered Species Policy project. Each term in the following article includes a brief definition. Click on a term for a more in-depth article on the subject.
Terms
- Candidate species: Candidate species are animal and plant species for which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service has sufficient information on their biological status and threats to propose them as endangered or threatened species but for which a proposed listing has not been processed due to higher priority listings.[1]
- Critical habitat: Critical habitat is a specific geographic area containing features deemed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be essential for an endangered or threatened species' conservation. A species does not need to inhabit a particular area for the land to be considered critical habitat.[2]
- Delisting: Delisting is the process of removing federal protection from an endangered or threatened animal or plant species. A species is delisted if it is recovered or extinct or if it was listed in error.[3]
- Distinct population segment: A distinct population segment is a group of vertebrate species separate from but related to other populations of a species.[4]
- Endangered species: An endangered species is any animal or plant species in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.[5]
- Listed species: Listed species are animal and plant species listed either as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. All listed species receive some form of federal protection.[6]
- Listing a species: Listing is the process of placing an animal or plant species on the federal list of endangered or threatened species.[7]
- Listing petition: A listing petition is a formal request from an individual or group to list a species as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.[8]
- Species recovery: Species recovery is the elimination or reduction in threats to an animal or plant species' survival. Once a species has recovered, it is removed from the federal list of endangered species.[9]
- Taking a species: Taking a species includes any action "to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct" with a listed species, as defined by the Endangered Species Act.[10]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Candidate Species: Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Critical Habitat Fact Sheet," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Delisting a Species - Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act," accessed August 27, 2015
- ↑ National Marine Fisheries Service, "Protected Resources Glossary," accessed November 15, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Glossary," accessed November 17, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Summary of Listed Species Listed Populations and Recovery Plans," accessed December 1, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Listing a Species as Threatened or Endangered," October 7, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Listing and Critical Habitat: Petition Process," accessed December 1, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Recovery," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Endangered Species Act - Section 3," accessed October 7, 2015
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