Rusty Patched Bumble Bee
Latin name: Bombus Affinis ,Conservsation status: critically endangered (population is decreasing)
Bees have existed on the planet for at least 40 million years. There are 250 species of bumblebees and seven species of honeybees. Fatter and furrier than honeybees, bumble bees make only a small amount of honey for their own food.
The Rusty Patched is the first bee to be listed as endangered in the US. Populations have declined as much as 87% from habitat loss, disease and pesticides. Climate threats include: warming and precipitation, early snow, late frost and drought. Bees and butterflies are important agricultural pollinators. In 2016, 40% of invertebrate pollinators (bees and butterflies) were listed as threatened with extinction.
Other animals effected by climate change
Rusty Patched Bumble BeeThe Rusty Patched is the first bee to be listed as endangered in the US. Populations have declined as much as 87% from habitat loss, disease and pesticides. Climate threats include: warming and precipitation, early snow, late frost and drought. Bees and butterflies are important agricultural pollinators. In 2016, 40% of invertebrate pollinators (bees and butterflies) were listed as threatened with extinction.
Staghorn CoralIn the last 30 years the Staghorn Coral population has decreased by 80% from disease, pollution, development and damage. Climate change is increasing the risk of extinction. Corals live in symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relation with algae. The coral receives nutrients and oxygen from algae, and the algae receive nutrients and carbon dioxide from the coral. Rising sea temperature increases algae growth so oxygen levels become too high for the coral, causing "bleaching"—the coral expels the algae and dies. Higher ocean acidity contributes to bleaching and also reduces the ability of corals and other marine animals to build hard shells. Other threats from climate change are sea level rise, changes in currents and storm damage.
Common ClownfishClownfish live in the shallow waters of coral reefs where they have a mutually beneficial relation with a few species of sea anemone. The anenome protects the Clownfish, and the fish's swimming aerates the water around the anenome. Clownfish are unable to move long distances, and rising ocean temperature and acidity is a threat to their coral reef habitats. Increased acidity also seems to impair their ability to navigate to their home anemones.
Arctic FoxThe Arctic tundra is a region of shrubs, grasses and permanently frozen subsoil. Warming could change the tundra to boreal forest—habitat for the Red Fox. The Red Fox, a predator and a competitor for food, is already beginning to migrate north into the Arctic Fox's territory. Milder tundra weather also causes changes in the population of lemmings and rodents—main food for the Arctic Fox.