Biodiversity and Conservation

2 Threats to Biodiversity
REVIEW Recall the definition of the Review Vocabulary term.
VOCABULARY
food web A system of interlocking and interdependent
food web
food chains

NEW VOCABULARY Use your book to define the following terms.

background extinction
background extinctionThe ongoing low-level extinction of individual species over very
long periods of time due to natural occurring environmental or
mass extinction ecological factors such as climate change, disease, loss of
habitat, or competitive disadvantage in relation to other species.
natural resource
mass extinction When species vanish much faster the they
overexploitation
are replaced.
habitat fragmentation
edge effect natural resource Materials or substances that can be used for economic gain.

biological magnification overexploitation Over-harvesting, harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns.

eutrophication
habitat fragmentation Causing an ecosystem to split.
introduced species

edge effect The affect of an abrupt transition between two

quite different adjoining ecological communities on
the numbers and kinds of organisms.
biological magnification Is any concentration of a toxin, such as
pesticides, in tissues of tolerant organisms at
successively higher levels in a food chain.

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eutrophication Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water,
frequently due to runoff from land, which causes a dense
growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

introduced species A non-native species or a species living outside its

native distributional range, but which has arrived there
by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either
deliberately or accidentally.

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 2 Threats to Biodiversity (continued)
Summarize extinction rates by completing the sentences below.

Climate change
Background extinction is slow and gradual. It is caused
as Global change
Introduce species change by natural processes.
A Mass extinction
Overexploitation is an event in which extinctions
increase dramatically. Some scientists believe we are in a period of
Overploitation today.
n
Get It? Explain the term overexploitation as it relates to species
extinction.

When a resource is over consume

to the point of diminishing it a
species might not have anymore
food.
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2 Threats to Biodiversity (continued)
Describe the effects of each change in habitat on species of animals.

Edge effects
Habitat
fragmentation
Introduced species

Invasive species
Pollution
Causes the migration
of animals
Habitat
fragmentation Separates an organism’s
environment
Habitat loss
Forces an animal to
find a new home.

Get It? Explain how an increase in global temperatures threatens

biodiversity.

Increase in temperature could cause the

extinction of some organisms which would
affect the biodiversity.

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CONNECT
Imagine a habitat near you. Hypothesize what would happen to the ecosystem if one species died
out. Support your reasoning with information from this lesson.

In a grassland suppose a grasshopper goes extinct the

frogs of the grassland form the tropic level above the
grasshopper. And the frogs survive feeding on
grasshoppers then the frogs are struggling for food
because their food source is gone. Therefore, when the
prey go extinct the predator existences become more
difficult.

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 2 Threats to Biodiversity (continued)
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
1. Describe what happens when species cannot adapt to ecosystem changes that are
too fast.

They die out and the one that adapt will produce
offsprings with the same traits to ensure survival.
2. Explain three ways that anthropogenic changes threaten biodiversity.
Deforestation causes animals to lose homes. Increase in
greenhouse gases leading to global warming which
causes trouble with some species.

3. Choose one of the factors that threatens biodiversity and suggest one way in which
biodiversity can be preserved in a real-life scenario.
Deforestation threatens biodiversity because the habitat of animals are being
destroyed. One way we can preserve is limited deforestation. On a small scale,
people can reuse paper material which will cut the demand of paper.
4. Summarize how the overharvesting of a single species, such as fish eaten by sea
lions, can affect an entire ecosystem.
This can cause an extinction in that entire species of animals and sea
lions would then resort to something else to eat and if they don’t find
food to eat they could starve.
5. Design a planned community that preserves biodiversity and accommodates the
human population. Work in small groups to accomplish this task.
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When ecosystems are in danger because of deforestation and industrial

pollution we should charge them and have them help fix their mistake. And
individuals could help such as waste reduction, water collection and reuse, and
by using green energy.

6. Survey your community to identify at least five threats to biodiversity and suggest
ways in which biodiversity can be preserved.

Climate change, deforestation, pollution, invasive species, and

population growth.

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