Research Paper DUE OCTOBER 7th 7-page research paper PLUS Reference page PLUS abstract page Topic: Specific religious practices and food.   Must be original Create a clearly stated thesis, HIGHLIGHT THESIS and focus the entire paper around it.  Provide specific examples to support this thesis.  Follow APA-formatting guidelines- PLEASE MAKE SURE IT IS APA FORMAT Double spaced -- 12pt Times New Roman font 7 pages NO COVER PAGE Provide a reference page (not part of the page count) Abstract page (not part of the page count) Written in third person USE AT LEAST SIX references: Explore the Internet, newspaper articles, journals, live interviews. DO NOT USE BOOKS – because I do not have access to them. Running head: SPECIES EXTINCTION 1 Species Extinction Shannon Cogar GEN499: General Education Capstone (GSV1637E) Instructor Dan Hicks September 26, 2016 - 1 - [no notes on this page] SPECIES EXTINCTION 2 Introduction It has been found that the eco-system is quickly losing its animals and plants at an alarming rate. Extinction is believed to be a natural phenomenon, taking place at a natural background rate of approximately 1 to 5 species annually. However, this is not the case in present time. This is because the planet is losing approximately 1000 to 10,000 species every year (Ceballos, Ehrlich, Barnosky, García, Pringle, & Palmer, 2015). Dozens of species are getting extinct each and every day. In the real sense, this is a very scary future. Many species, about 30 to 50 percent are heading towards extinction. This has been considered as the greatest threat to many species since in the next few centuries; many animals will become extinct. The planet is now believed to be in the midst of its sixth mass extinction. This new looks frightening, but it is actually the truth. The worst phase of species die-offs is being experienced on the planet. This is after the loss of dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago (Barnosky et al., 2011). Many biologists have tried to prove that extinction that was being recorded in the past or rather early centuries were due to events, such as volcanic eruption, natural climates shifts, and steroids strikes, whereas in the current situation it is absolutely different. The current extinction of organisms is entirely caused by humans. Human activities are threatening 99 percent of species that are at risk today. “Because the rate of change in our biosphere is increasing, and because every species’ extinction potentially leads to the extinction of others bound to that species in a complex ecological web, numbers of extinctions are likely to snowball in the coming decades as ecosystems unravel” (Barnosky et al., 2011, p. 54). The diversity of species makes sure that there ...

1. Research Paper
DUE OCTOBER 7th
7-page research paper PLUS Reference page PLUS abstract
page
Topic: Specific religious practices and food.
Must be original
Create a clearly stated thesis, HIGHLIGHT THESIS and focus
the entire paper around it. Provide specific examples to support
this thesis.
Follow APA-formatting guidelines- PLEASE MAKE SURE IT
IS APA FORMAT
Double spaced -- 12pt Times New Roman font
7 pages
NO COVER PAGE
Provide a reference page (not part of the page count)
Abstract page (not part of the page count)
Written in third person
USE AT LEAST SIX references: Explore the Internet,
newspaper articles, journals, live interviews. DO NOT USE
BOOKS – because I do not have access to them.
Running head: SPECIES EXTINCTION
1
Species Extinction
Shannon Cogar
GEN499: General Education Capstone (GSV1637E)
Instructor Dan Hicks

2. September 26, 2016
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[no notes on this page]
SPECIES EXTINCTION
2
Introduction
It has been found that the eco-system is quickly losing its
animals and plants at an
alarming rate. Extinction is believed to be a natural
phenomenon, taking place at a natural
background rate of approximately 1 to 5 species annually.
However, this is not the case in
present time. This is because the planet is losing approximately
1000 to 10,000 species every
year (Ceballos, Ehrlich, Barnosky, García, Pringle, & Palmer,
2015). Dozens of species are
getting extinct each and every day. In the real sense, this is a
very scary future. Many species,
about 30 to 50 percent are heading towards extinction. This has
been considered as the greatest
threat to many species since in the next few centuries; many
animals will become extinct. The

3. planet is now believed to be in the midst of its sixth mass
extinction. This new looks frightening,
but it is actually the truth. The worst phase of species die-offs
is being experienced on the planet.
This is after the loss of dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago
(Barnosky et al., 2011).
Many biologists have tried to prove that extinction that was
being recorded in the past or
rather early centuries were due to events, such as volcanic
eruption, natural climates shifts, and
steroids strikes, whereas in the current situation it is absolutely
different. The current extinction
of organisms is entirely caused by humans. Human activities are
threatening 99 percent of
species that are at risk today.
“Because the rate of change in our biosphere is increasing, and
because every species’
extinction potentially leads to the extinction of others bound to
that species in a complex
ecological web, numbers of extinctions are likely to snowball in
the coming decades as
ecosystems unravel” (Barnosky et al., 2011, p. 54). The
diversity of species makes sure that there

4. - 2 -
1
2 3
4
1. getting
"going" [Dan Hicks]
2. percent
"percent," [Dan Hicks]
3. considered
By whom, specifically? [Dan
Hicks]
4. This new looks
frightening,
? [Dan Hicks]
SPECIES EXTINCTION
3
is resilience of the ecosystem. This offers ecological
communities the scope, which is required to

5. withstand stress. Conservatives have directed much attention to
having a species-rich ecosystem,
such as coral reefs and rainforests. But now, there is a need for
a comprehensive strategy aimed
at saving biodiversity, such as creating habitat type with fewer
species. Examples of these are
polar seas, tundra, and grasslands. Since a lot of concern when
it comes to extinction is directed
of species that have been lost globally, there needs to be a way
of conserving local population,
that is, genetic diversity. This is very important for long-term
survival of many species.
In the past 500 years, it has been approximated that not less
than 1000 species are now
considered to be extinct. For instance, in the woodland bison of
West Virginian some species
like grasshoppers, Puerto Rico Culebra parrot, and the
passenger pigeon are now under threat of
becoming extinct. Although not clear reasons have not been
given as to why they face the danger
of being extinct but one thing that can be settled on is the
tampering on the biosphere by human
beings (Brook, Sodhi, & Bradshaw, 2008). This is through
deforestation, which has hampered

6. the balance in the ecology, and therefore there is some sought
imbalance and due to the laws of
natural selection.
Thesis statement
This paper seeks to extensively look at modern species
extinction that is taking place on the
planet. Apart from that, it will also examine the negative impact
of modern species extinction on
the economy and other living organism. Additionally, species
that are being threatened by
modern extinction will be determined. Finally, human activities
that cause this problem will be
looked at, and strategies for mitigating this negative process
will be proposed.
- 3 -
1
1. proposed.
This is a summary, not a
thesis [Dan Hicks]
SPECIES EXTINCTION
4

7. Annotated bibliography
Barnosky, A. D., Matzke, N., Tomiya, S., Wogan, G. O.,
Swartz, B., Quental, T. B., ... &
Mersey, B. (2011). Has the Earth/'s sixth mass extinction
already arrived?. Nature, 471(7336),
51-57.
This article by Barnosky and colleagues is very important for
this research since it talks about
the issue of modern species extinction. The authors believe that
whatever is taking place is a
mass extinction. This mass extinction can be termed as a time
when the planet loses more than
three-quarters of its species (Barnosky et al., 2011). According
to them, this takes place in a very
short interval. They compare whatever is being experienced to
what took place in the past, that
is, 540 million year back. As per the trend that is being
experienced, they believe that a sixth
mass extinction is under way. This is due to the data related to
species loss in the past few
millennia and centuries. To influence understanding of current
species extinction crisis, the
authors look at the difference occurring between modern data

8. together with recent
paleontological information that is available and that of fossils.
The results of their comparison
confirm that the current rate of extinction is very high compared
to that of fossils and appropriate
conservation measures should be taken.
Brook, B. W., Sodhi, N. S., & Bradshaw, C. J. (2008).
Synergies among extinction drivers under
global change. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23(8), 453-460.
Brook, Sodhi, and Bradshaw argue that mass species loss that is
currently happening is
severe, and it has a direct relation to overexploitation of
population together with habitat
destruction. The extinction risks for many species in so severe.
This is based on meta-analytic,
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SPECIES EXTINCTION
5
experimental, and observational work carried out by the
authors. Self-reinforcing together with

9. the interacting process also provides data for their conclusion.
Conservation action, which is
targeting single-threat drivers being practiced in many parts in
not adequate when it comes to
dealing with this problem (Brook et al., 2008). The method is
inadequate because it is a
cascading impact caused by unmanaged synergies. The authors
argue that future attention needs
to be directed towards climate change. This will cause some
changes to accelerated ongoing
threats to biodiversity. Some of these are dealing with invasive
species, overexploitation, and
habitat degradation.
Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P. R., Barnosky, A. D., García, A.,
Pringle, R. M., & Palmer, T. M.
(2015). Accelerated modern human–induced species losses:
Entering the sixth mass extinction.
Science advances, 1(5), e1400253.
From their research, Ceballos and colleagues have managed to
establish that the biota of
the earth is entering a sixth mass extinction, which is taking
place very fast even compared to the
background rates that was gotten in the previous mass
extinctions. This article is very important

10. in this paper since it touches on species threatened by
extinction, the speed at which the
extinction is taking place and what is the cause of the problem.
Through their extremely
conservative assumption, they determine that human activities
are the primary cause of this
problem. Approximately 1000 to 10,000 species are going to
disappear each and every year
(Ceballos et al., 2015). This means that there is going to be a
rapid loss of biodiversity.
Therefore, this shows that mass extinction is already underway.
Diverting the dramatic decay in
biodiversity together with loss of ecosystem services that is
taking place is possible. There needs
to intensify conservation efforts. This should be done very fast
since the window of opportunity
with regards to this issue of mass extinction is closing very fast.
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SPECIES EXTINCTION
6

11. References
Barnosky, A. D., Matzke, N., Tomiya, S., Wogan, G. O.,
Swartz, B., Quental, T. B., ... &
Mersey, B. (2011). Has the Earth/'s sixth mass extinction
already arrived?. Nature,
471(7336), 51-57.
Brook, B. W., Sodhi, N. S., & Bradshaw, C. J. (2008).
Synergies among extinction drivers under
global change. Trends in ecology & evolution, 23(8), 453-460.
Ceballos, G., Ehrlich, P. R., Barnosky, A. D., García, A.,
Pringle, R. M., & Palmer, T. M.
(2015). Accelerated modern human–induced species losses:
Entering the sixth mass
extinction. Science advances, 1(5), e1400253.
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[no notes on this page]