Lecture 5.7 Flashcards
What can be done about human impact?
Efforts into issues
Stabilize the world’s population
Alternative energy
Agriculture - could use wild species for crops
A new field of biology concerned with countering the current rate of extinction on a community and ecosystem level
Conservation biology
There are currently ___ species named in the world
1.5 million
Extinction is a normal process but the issue is
it is occuring at a higher rate
In danger of extinction
endangered
likely to become endangered
threatened
Why not let species go extinct?
We use many species for clothing, food, medicine, housing, etc
Humans are dependent on healthy ecosystems
If species go extinct then the community and ecosystem is not healthy.
Why do species go extinct
Loss of genetic variability
Disruption of ecological relationships
Habitat loss/fragmentation
If there is no genetic variability then
species cannot adapt to deal with problems
The decreasing sardine population on the Galapagos Island led to the decline of the
Blue Footed Boobie
Happens when we break up land. 2/3 of the extinction has this as a factor
Habitat fragmentation
If there is a 90% loss in habitat then there will be a ___ loss in species
50%
Significant percent of fish species breed here. 40% have died
Coral reef
Why is the coral reef dying
Ocean acidification
Human harvesting
Are becomes broken into smaller fragments
Fragmentation
More fragments lead to more __ which leads to ___
edge effect
less useful land
Places where there are a high number of species that only live there
Hot spot
Other reasons for extinction
Over exploitation
Introduced species
Many cases of ___ are threatened or endangered. Are getting certain fungal diseases. The ones who live have an microbial shield
Amphibians
How do biologists determine the risk of extinction
PVA - population viability analysis
Genetic variability measured
Birth rates measured
Death rates measured
Population viability analysis
The smallest population size that can still survive
minimum viable population size
If a species is more vulnerable to extinction
Low genetic variability
If it is only found locally/endemic
Migrant species
Commercially harvested
Use of a species to detoxify an area
Bioremediation
Bioremediation Augmentation of ecosystem processes Improve genetic diversity Propagate capture animals then release Keystone species
Habitat restoration
