For years, the Endangered Species Act has been interpreted in a way that preserves the environments where endangered and threatened plants and animals live.

A proposed regulatory change by the Trump administration would limit the act’s protection to prohibit killing, harming or injuring individual animals and not the habitats on which they rely, some experts say.

The pending change in the definition of “harm” to make it illegal to “take” a member of a protected species by methods such as trapping or killing concerns scientists who fear a loss of habitat could lead to population collapse.

“It will cripple the Endangered Species Act,” says Dan Distel, research professor at Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center.

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