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Extinction

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41 views52 pages

Extinction

simple help

Uploaded by

maqkieqt
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Extinction

How would you feel if there


are ants in your
environment?
How would you feel if there
are no more ants in your
environment?
Soil Aeration
Ants take seeds down into
their tunnel to eat the
nutritious elaiosomes that
are part of the seed. These
seeds often sprout and
grow new plants (seed
dispersal).

soil fertility
Ecological Balance
Efficient cleaners!
Ants act
as decomposers by
feeding on organic waste,
insects or other dead
animals. They help keep
the environment clean.

Ants eat and are eaten


Ants are predators of other insects and their eggs.
In their natural habitat, they are a source of food
for many invertebrates and vertebrates, including
woodpeckers and other insectivorous insects.
•Anteaters that feed only
on ants

•Young bear cubs that


love to feed on ants
•Aardvark, pangolins, and
skunks that feed
specifically on ant
colonies

•Insects, including
spiders and
phorid flies, feed
on ants
•Woodpeckers, turkeys, starlings, hummingbirds,
flickers, antpittas, grouse, and sparrows prey on
ants.
•One interesting fact is that humans too prey on
ants for their nutrition as a source of protein.
Extinction
Extinction occurs when the last existing
member of a given species dies

In other words…there aren’t any more left!


Extinction
It is a scientific certainty when there are not
any surviving individuals left to reproduce

In other words…there aren’t any more left!


Functional Extinction
● Only a handful of individuals are left
● Odds of reproduction are slim

The species no longer plays an effective role in their


ecosystem
Causes of Extinction

Genetics and Demographics

● Small populations = increased risk


● Mutations
• Causes a flux in natural selection
• Beneficial genetic traits are overruled
● Loss of Genetic Diversity
• Shallow gene pools promote massive inbreedingr
Causes of Extinction

Habitat Degradation

One of the most influential


(Anthropogenic and Naturogenic)
Causes of Extinction
Habitat Degradation
Causes of Extinction
Habitat Degradation

Mine tailings spill

Environmental problems caused by improper mine tailings disposal in


the Baguio district include pollution of the Lower Agno River system
and its watershed and siltation of irrigation canals in the Pangasinan
plains.
Mine Tailings
Spill

There is an elevated concentrations of toxic HM


such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), lead
(Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co) and mercury
(Hg)
Habitat Degradation

The primary causes of coral reef degradation include


climate change, leading to ocean warming and acidification,
overfishing, destructive fishing practices, coastal
Causes of Extinction
Habitat Degradation

Seventy percent of the Earth's plant and animals dwell


in forests, and deforestation affects them directly.
According to recent estimates, the world is losing 137
species of plants, animals and insects every day to
deforestation.
Causes of Extinction
Habitat Degradation

Oil discharged into the environment can harm habitats


such as wetlands and oyster reef. Habitat losses may
alter migration patterns and disrupt life cycles of
animals and result in erosion of shorelines.
Poaching
Coextinction

The loss of one species leads to the loss of


another
Can be caused by small impacts in the
beginning
A predator looses its food source
Mass Extinction
A sharp decrease in the number of species
on Earth in a short period of time
Coincides with a sharp drop in speciation
● The process by which new biological species
arise
There have been at least 5
● Last one was 65M years ago
Mass Extinction Diagram
Mass Extinction
Began about three-million years ago
(Continental Glaciations).

Hypotheses for initial extinction:


• Sea level depletion vs. Temperature decrease

Though these hypotheses aren’t mutually


exclusive, they may have conspired
together.
Planned Extinction
Human controlled
Thought of to help humans
Deadly viruses
● Smallpox
• Extinct in the wild
● Polio
• Near extinct (only in small parts of the world)
Natural Causes of
Extinction
Invasive Alien Species

● decline or elimination of native species –


through competition, predation, or
transmission of pathogens;
● disruption of local ecosystems and ecosystem
functions.
Climatic Heating and Cooling
Changes in Sea Level or Currents

www.johnstonsarchive.net/spaceart/cylmaps.html
Asteroids

Causes complete
devastation
Flattening and crater at
or around impact
site-hundreds of miles wide
Reverberations felt around
the world
Cosmic Radiation

www.iit.edu/~ipro313s/home.html
Acid Rain
Kills acid intolerant
species
Disease/Epidemics
Can wipe out entire
species
Frog with fungus
disease
Killing frogs and other
amphibians
Natural factors usually occur at a slower
rate and therefore cause a low extinction
rate. Human activities occur at a faster
rate and cause higher extinction rates.
Human activities are mostly responsible
for the present extinction rates.

http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/sustain/extinct.pdf
IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
References
Ceballos, G., and Ehrlich, P., 2002, Mammal Population Losses and the Extinction
Crisis:
Science, v. 296, p. 904-908.
Fahrig, L., 2002, Effect of Habitat Fragmentation on the Extinction Threshold: A
Synthesis: Ecological Applications, v. 12, p. 346-353.
Gittleman, J., The Risk of Extinction—What you don’t know will hurt you: Science, v.
291.
Petcchey, O.L., and Gaston, K.J., Extinction and the loss of functional diversity: They
Royal
Society, p. 1721-1727.
Rutledge, D., Lepczyk, C., Xie, J., Liu, J., 2001, Spatiotemporal Dynamics of
Endangered
Species Hotspots in the United States: Conservation Biology, v. 15, p. 475- 487.
Kent, Holsinger. "The Causes of Extinction." 27 Aug. 2005. 12 Mar. 2007
<http://darwin.eeb.uconn.edu/eeb310/lecture-notes/extinctions/node3.html>.
Madeley, J., Warnock, K., 1995, Biodiversity: A Matter of Extinction: The challenge of
protecting the South’s biological heritage <http://www.panos.org.uk/pdf/reports/
biodiversity.pdf>.
Trombulak, Stpehen C., et. Al. 2004, Principles of Conservation Biology: Recommended
Guidelines for Conservation Literacy from the Education Committee of the Society for
Bald Eagle. US Fish and Wildlife Service <http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/b/msab0h.html>.
Conservation Biology: Conservation Biology
<http://www.conbio.org/Resources/Education/conservation_literacy_english.pdf>.
Extinction. Lecture by Bruce Walsh at University of Arizona, 1995.
<http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/courses/EEB105/lectures/extinction/extinction.html>.
References
Trombulak, Stpehen C., et. Al. 2004, Principles of Conservation
Biology: Recommended
Guidelines for Conservation Literacy from the Education
Committee of the Society for
Bald Eagle. US Fish and Wildlife Service
<http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/b/msab0h.html>.
Conservation Biology: Conservation Biology
<http://www.conbio.org/Resources/Education/conservation_literac
y_english.pdf>.
Extinction. Lecture by Bruce Walsh at University of Arizona,
1995.
<http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/courses/EEB105/lectures/extinctio
n/extinction.html>.

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