THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY & SOLUTIONS

"WHAT IS A TEHUANTEPE JACKRABBIT???"

a beautiful picture of a jackrabbit.
https://pixnio.com/fauna-animals/bunny- rabbit/black-tailed-jackrabbit-lepus-californicus

The Tehuantepe Jackrabbit, since the 30th of June 2008, is known to be 'endangered'. It is found in the desert, mainly the grasslands, shrub land and suratidal areas. Their main food source, because they are herbavores, are grasses, twigs, bark, leaves, prickly cacti, and shrubs. They themselves are known to be natures' ideal prey. Coyotes, mountain lions, foxes, owls, and snakes will all eat them. When speaking about their life cycle, they are in the middle of the desert food chain.I do not know much about the birth rate, other than the fact that they reproduce very frequently, and when they do reproduce, they produce a lot at a time. I am guessing that with their position in the food chain, they have short lives. When researching this topic after brainstorming these thoughts, I found out that the average lifespan of a jackrabbit is 6 years. Overall, jackrabbits are known to have short lives, they are the main food source for many animals in the desert, they reproduce to a great extent, and they are herbavores. I found all of this information on "The Red List", a website that describes endangered species, and was surprised to find out that the jackrabbit is currently endangered.

This is a picture of the overall desert food chain, featuring
the jackrabbit. https://www.birmingham.k12.mi.us/Page/6192

"WHAT THREATENS THEIR SURVIVAL???"

Their usual habitat is marine coastal, supratidal, shrub land, savanna, and grassland. All of these habitats are threatened by various variables. One threat is known to be residential and commercial development. Both housing, and urban areas are what contribute to this threat of building. Another threat is surprisingly agriculture and aquaculture. Annual and perennial non-timber crops contribute to this threat of agriculture, as well as livestock farming and ranching. In addition to agriculture being a threat, transportation and service corridors such as roads and railroads are a threat as well. The obvious threat, being biological resource use, also known as hunting and trapping is a huge threat to the jackrabbit. Other recreational activities serve as a threat as well. Natural system modifications, invasive and other problematic species, genes and diseases are also a major threat to the jackrabbit. Lastly, the biggest threat to all species being climate change is also a threat to the jackrabbit. Droughts, storms, and flooding affect this species greatly. Without the jackrabbit population, the grasslands would not be the same. 

This is a picture of where the jackrabbit
population is found most. 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Black-tailed_Jackrabbit_area.png

"WHERE DO THEY LIVE???"

In present time, according to The Red List, the jackrabbit is limited in places to call home. They are mainly restricted to grasslands, with open shrub and tree cover, and coastal grassy dunes which exceed a 4-5 km wide strip along the shores of salt water lagoons on the north side of the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Grasses in the savannas and coastal dunes are usually filled with  Paspalum An and Bouteloua

A close up of Paspalum https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paspalum_ mandiocanum_spikelets4_(7185861933).jpg A far away picture of a desert grasslandhttps://pixabay.com/photos/volcano-desert- volcano-in-desert-3633728/ In general, many people do not know that grasslands can lie in deserts. There are many threats to the grasslands, including farmland, overgrazing, hunting, invasive species, illegal hunting, and climate change. There are two types ofgrasslands, tropical and temperate. tropical grasslands include the hot savannas of sub-Saharian Africa, and northern Australia. According to National Geographic, Grasslands only account for 20-40 percent of the worlds land area. They are generally open and flat, and they exist on every continent EXCEPT Antarctica. Rainfall can vary depending on where the grasslands are in the desert areas. The desert grasslands support a lot of different species. The vegetation in the grasslands, for example, supply the needs of several animals for food. These animals include zebras, wildebeest, giraffes, and gazelles. On temperate grasslands, you will find praire dogs, badgers, coyotes, swift foxes, and a variety of birds! There is up to 25 different kinds of vegetation in these grasslands as well. There are certain natural causations that help shape grasslands positively, such as fires. Both nature-caused and human-caused fires helps maintain these grasslands for games such as bison.

A beautiful desert grassland.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pano_of_Gunbarrel_grasslands_and_
dune_in_the_Gibson_Desert_Nature_Reserve._(6937186643).jpg

In Keene, New Hampshire, there are a lot of developments and buildings, especially with there being a college amongst the trees takes a lot of species' land and homes away. When doing that, we all need to understand that when taking these homes away, we need to do our best to preserve what is still remaining. The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is listed as critically endangered in the Mexican Official Norm NOM-059-ECOL-2001. Conservation laws are not enforced by local authorities in Oaxaca, Mexico, according to The Red List. When looking back at the section of the jackrabbits' threats, I focused on the main threat of residential areas. Keene is a big residential area, so when thinking of ways to preserve the land of all endangered species in residential areas, I try to think of the saying "Leave No Trace" (https://lnt.org/). Leave No Trace is a set of outdoor ethics promoting conservation in the outdoors. It consists of seven principles: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, be considerate of other visitors. SO, since Keene is although a residential area, you have to think about the areas that are not full of college students. The mountains, the woods, places like that. Try to keep your plastic and trash to yourself, and even try to pick others trash up if you see it. There is only one planet, so try to preserve what we still have!

Leave No Trace seven principles!
https://lnt.org/shop/featured-products

________________________________________________________________________________

(ALL OF THIS INFORMATION WAS FOUND ON https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/11790/3306162#habitat-ecology, and https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/grasslands/)

“Home | Leave No Trace.” Home | Leave No Trace, lnt.org/.

Nunez, Christina. “Grasslands Information and Facts.” Grasslands-Facts and Information, 15 Mar. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/grasslands/.