El Segundo Blue Butterfly
The El Segundo blue butterfly can be found in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. This butterfly lost approximately 90 percent of its ocean-side habitat due to the construction of LAX. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, “the remaining habitat was highly degraded and overtaken by exotic plants.” The butterfly’s population declined from about 1,000. Thanks to restoration efforts, the butterfly can now be found at seven Southern California sites instead of only two. These sites include Ballona Wetlands, El Segundo, Dockweiler, Torrance Beach, Pt Vicente, Redondo Beach, and Malaga Cove. The El Segundo Blue Butterfly was saved from extinction by these restoration efforts. By 2011, the butterfly had seen an astounding increase in population by an incredible 22,000 percent.
Tricolored blackbird
The Tricolored Blackbird can be found in the Central Valley of California, extending south into northern Baja California. Though these rare blackbirds continue to form large colonies, the number of Tricolored Blackbirds has decreased significantly since the 1930s. Studies performed in the 1930s estimated that there were around 2–3 million Tricolored Blackbirds. Recent research shows that now there are an estimated 300,000. The tricolored blackbird prefers wetland and grassland habitats which don’t exist in many parts of California. Most of the bird’s native habitats have been lost over the years. Within the Central Valley, breeding colonies are located in Sacramento Valley and in the lower Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley.
Southern Sea Otter
Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the southern sea otter has seen a notable decline in population due to unavailability of prey, entanglement in commercial fishing gear, oil spills, contaminants, disease, and shark predation. There are only about 3,000 southern sea otters left in the wild today. As stated by Defenders, “as top predators, sea otters are critical to maintaining the balance of nearshore ecosystems, such as kelp forests, embayments, and estuaries. Without sea otters, sea urchins can overpopulate the seafloor and devour the kelp forests that provide cover and food for many other marine animals.
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