Chapter 12. Chapter 12: Evolution and Extinction

Interactive Study Guide

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Guiding Question 12.4

What are the main factors currently contributing to the endangerment of species?

Why You Should Care

The simple fact is that people are the main factor contributing to the endangerment of species. Our destruction of habitats, pollution, importation of invasive species, and exhaustion of natural resources are all contributing to our current mass extinction. Consider that mass extinctions in the past could have taken millennia, perhaps hundreds of millennia. Our actions are leading to the incredibly rapid loss of species and genetic diversity, and the secrets they held.

Test Your Vocabulary

Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:

Term	Definition
	Human activity that removes more of a resource than can be replaced in the same time frame, such as taking too many individuals from a population.
	Altering a natural area in a way that makes it uninhabitable for the species living there.
	Alterations to climate resulting from human impact.
	Hazardous or objectionable substances that are released into the environment; also includes noise and light.
	A non-native species (a species outside of its range) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.
	Species that prefer to live close to the edges of two different habitats (ecotone areas).
	Destruction of part of an area that separates suitable habitat patches from one another; patches that are too small may be unusable for some species.
	Species that prefer core areas of a habitat—areas deep within the habitat away from the edge.

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If a species is extirpated:

there are no longer any individuals living without human care.

individuals in one population have completely died off, but other populations still contain living individuals.

there are no longer any living individuals of it anywhere.

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7.

Match the threat to biodiversity with the closest example.

Threat	Example
	Warmer winters drive a species of fir tree to higher elevations on a mountain; eventually, there will be no more mountain to climb.
	A highway is built through a wetland to connect two towns.
	Asian stinkbugs outcompete native species of stinkbug in eastern North America and severely damage many species of plant.
	Passenger pigeons were a species of dove native to North America whose numbers were so great that flocks could darken the sky. Hunting of passenger pigeons for sport and protecting crops led to their extinction by the early 1900s.
	Florida scrub is a dry-ecosystem type found in the central ridge of Florida and has some of the highest rates of endemism in the United States, including the Florida scrub jay, a highly intelligent bird whose numbers are dwindling because around 90% of Florida scrub has been converted to pasture land, retirement communities, and orange groves.
	Compounds like nitrate and sulfate are produced from burning fossil fuels and can mix with water in the air to produce nitric and sulfuric acid. The resulting acidic precipitation acidifies the soil and weakens or kills trees.

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Chapter 12. Chapter 12: Evolution and Extinction

What are the main factors currently contributing...?

Guiding Question 12.4

Test Your Vocabulary

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