Recitation 13: Tasmanian Food Web

Question 1

Australia’s mammals are … at an alarmingly high rate, due in large part to a couple of critters with …

Answer 1

going extinct; voracious appetites

Question 2

more than …% of the land mammal species endemic to Australia has been wiped out since …. due to … and … brought to the continent by those settlers

Answer 2

10; European settlement; cats; foxes

Question 3

… percent of the 273 land mammal species endemic to Australia have gone extinct since European settlement and another … percent are considered threatened. By comparison, just … North American native land mammal became extinct since European settlement–the …, which was overhunted. Worldwide, around … percent of … mammal species are extinct

Answer 3

11; 21; one; sea mink; 1.5; 5500

Question 4

seven species that were once widespread on the Australian mainland now live naturally only on islands that the

Answer 4

cats and foxes have yet to colonize

Question 5

Unlike the rest of the world, where … mammals are at the highest risk of extinction, the Australian mammals being killed off are …–perfectly “meal-sized” for their predators

Answer 5

larger; small

Question 6

a separate culprit the scientists identified behind the mammals’ extinction rate is the changing way the nation’s fierce … are managed. In years past, indigenous Australians regularly set small fires, which burned away … that is perfect tinder for wildfires. But that practice is less common today, meaning that wildfires tend to ignite more … and …, resulting in a loss of the mammals’ … and … that protect them from cats and foxes;

Answer 6

wildfires; dry brush; often; spread more widely; food sources; hiding places