Anthropogenic Species and Ecosystems Extinction (SL) Flashcards
North Island Giant Moas
Habitat and Period
New Zealand, 1300 CE
North Island Giant Moas
Type of organism
Large herbivorous birds with no wings
North Island Giant Moas
Size
Up to 3 meters tall
Females were bigger than males
North Island Giant Moas
When did humans arrive?
Polyponesian people arrived around 1200 to 1300 CE
North Island Giant Moas
How fast did the organisms go extinct?
What does this show?
Within 100 years
Anthropogenic extinction has been happening for centuries on a smaller scale
Caribbean Monk Seal
Habitat
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Islands
Caribbean Monk Seal
Population size
13 major colonies with 250,000 individuals
Caribbean Monk Seal
When did the organism go extinct?
Declared extinct in 2008; last confirmed sighting in 1952
Caribbean Monk Seal
Why was the organism killed?
European colonists killed it for oil and food
Caribbean Monk Seal
Peculiar behavior
Showed little fear of humans and often sat on beaches and rocks
Became an easy target for guns or clubs
Last few seals killed to be used as scientific specimens
Dodo
Habitat
Mauritius in the Indian Ocean
Dodo
Type of organism
Flightless bird
Dodo
When did it go extinct?
Late 1600s
Dodo
Why did the organism go extinct?
Humans introduced non-native/invasive species that ate the dodo’s eggs
Invasive species included rats, pigs, and monkeys
Humans hunted the bird for food
Mixed Dipterocarp Forest
Habitat
Southeast Asia
Mixed Dipterocarp Forest
Types of organisms
Number of species
Family of hardwood tropical trees
Over 500 species
Mixed Dipterocarp Forest
Why and how was the ecosystem destroyed?
Clear cutting (stripping all trees) for timber and agricultural land (especially for palm oil)
Clear cutting is the cheapest way of removing timber
Mixed Dipterocarp Forest
How much rainforest is being lost in SEA yearly?
About 1%
Percent is higher on some islands
Aral Sea
Location
Size
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Fourth-largest lake in the world
Aral Sea
Why was it destroyed?
Time period
Rivers that fed the lake were diverted by Soviet irrigation
1960s and beyond
Aral Sea
How much has been lost?
Lost over 90% of original size
Aral Sea
Effects of the dwindling lake
Collapse of freshwater fish populations, wetlands, and the communities that depended on them
Aral Sea
Effects on the land surrounding the lake
Became desert-like, toxic dust storms arose from the exposed lakebed, pesticides and chemicals had accumulated
