ENDANGERED HABITATS THREATEN WILDLIFE

The natural habitats serving most American plant and animal life have declined to the point of endangerment, according to a new federal study cited this morning in The New York Times. Forests, wetlands and prairies are among the areas that formerly made up half the U.S. landscape, but much of that land has been converted for other uses or damaged in recent years. The survey points to 30 ecosystems which are "critically endangered," while the ability of the rest to carry out their ecological functions has severely degraded, jeopardizing all of the species which rely on those surroundings.