BIOtheNUMBERS

~33% - Amphibian species under threat of extinction (Murray 2009)

122 to 159 - Number of species that have gone extinct over the last 25 years (Stuart 2004, IUCN 2008)

38 - Number of amphibians that are officially extinct

1 - Number of species extinct in the wild, but surviving in captivity

120 - Amphibian species that have not been seen in the wild in recent years and feared extinct

<1% - Number of amphibian species with increasing populations

42% - Species with declining populations

489 - Species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

787 - Number of species listed as endangered by the IUCN

211 times - The extinction rate of amphibians compared to background extinction rate

>80% - Extinct and threatened amphibians in Cuba, Jamaica, and Dominican Republic

92% - Extinct and threatened amphibians in Haiti

4,000 - Number of species threatened by habitat loss

*Data:  IUCN Red List 2008

6,487 - Number of amphibian species as of May 21, 2009

5,732 - Number of frogs and toads, which is 88% of known amphibian species

579 - Number of newts and salamanders, which makes up 9% of known amphibians

176 - Number of caecilians, or roughly 3% of total known amphibian species

60% - Percent of increase in recognized species since 1985

811 - Frog species described in Brazil as of January 2009

292 - Frog species found in the United States

180cm - Length from head to tail of the largest amphibian, the Chinese Giant Salamander

151cm - Length of the largest caecilian

11cm - Length of the smallest caecilian

10cm - Length of the smallest frog

Data:  AmphibiaWeb 2009, IUCN 2009

7,600 - Estimated square miles covered by shallow-water coral reefs in the United States

375 billion - Estimated annual amount in goods and services coral reef ecosystems provide worldwide

500 million - Number of people worldwide that depend on coral reefs for food, income, and resources

50% - Amount of federally managed commercial fish species that need coral reefs for at least part of their life cycle

67% - Percent of reef fish species overfished in U.S. waters of the south Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean

90-96% - Percent of nearshore coral species killed by white band disease in the 1990s

>2,000 - Number of coral species listed under CITES

United States - The world’s largest importer of ornamental coral reef resources

$360 million - Estimated amount of money generated by coral reefs for recreation per year in Hawaii

33% - Percent of all marine fish species that call coral reefs home

6 million - The metric tons of seafood harvested annually from coral reef fisheries

0.2% - The amount of ocean area covered by tropical coral reefs

Data: U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century. Final Report. 2004

Estuary Restoration Act of 2000: Restore 1,000,000 acres of estuarine habitat by 2010 (RAE 2007).

It is said that more than 140 million Americans live in coastal areas (EPA 2009) and more than 50% of the U.S. population live within 100 miles estuaries and coastal communities (EPA 2006).

Alaska, Florida, and Louisiana have the most acreage of estuaries in the United States; with Alaska containing the largest amount (Carter  1997)

 The United States has 102 estuaries (ANEP 2007)

75% of commercial fisheries and 80-90% of recreational fisheries utilize estuaries as essential habitat (EPA, 2007).

Fish caught in estuaries add $4.3 billion a year to the U.S. economy (NOAA 2005c)

Recreational activities and tourism along coastal regions create $8-$12 billion per year in the U.S. (NOAA 2005c)

“Twenty-seven estuarine reserve sites make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). These sites are located in 20 of the 35 U.S coastal states and protect over 1.3 million acres of coastal land and waters from Alaska to Puerto Rico.” (NOAA 2008)

“In one estuarine system in the Northeast that was studied some years ago it was found that commercial and recreational fishing generate about $240 million per year. In that same estuary, tourism and beach-going generate $1.5 billion per year, and shipping and marinas generate $1.86 billion per year. “( EPA 2009)

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With frequent new discoveries, the number of valid scientific descriptions of species of fishes is always on the upswing.  Projections from 2006, self-described as conservative, put the eventual number  of living species to be close to 32,500.  Fishbase.org, updated in April 2009, has a searchable database of 31,200 species.

77 A.D.  - ~144 known species
1976 - 18,818 known species, 450 families
1984 - 21,723 known species, 445 families
1994 - 24,618 known species, 482 families
2006 - 27,977 known species, 515 families

Of the total species formally described in 2006, 42.7% (11,952) of species live in freshwater, 55.5% (15,520) of species live in seawater, and 1.8% (505) of species move between freshwater and oceans during their lifecycles. 

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More than 33% of federally listed bird species occur on the Hawaiian islands.

71 Hawaiian bird species have become extinct since the arrival of humans.

An additional 10 birds are feared extinct as they have not been observed for over 40 years.

Prior to human inhabitants, Hawaii was home to 113 unique bird species such as flightless geese, ibis, rails, and 59 species of Hawaiian honeycreepers.

43% of 157 sea and land species are not native to the islands, while 69% of the landbirds have been brought over from all parts of the world.

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