Resource 6.4
Intermediate Life Science– Biodiversity
H.I.P.P.O. “Threats to Biodiversity”
Directions: Use the
review each “threat to
and determine which
real-life scenarios
letter to match each
A = Habitat loss
B = Invasive species
C = Pollution
D = Population growth of humans
E = Over-consumption of natural resources
H.I.P.P.O matrix to
biodiversity” category
category the following
belong to. Write the
threat.
1. ______ The demand for beachfront property near large cities is reducing wetlands and
mangrove forests.
2. ______ Leopard skin coats were popular in the 1960s.
3. ______ When industries use water from rivers and bays, the water may go back into waterways at
a higher temperature, killing organisms that can’t tolerate warmer water.
4. ______ The multifora rose, an invasive species in the Unites States, destroyed
many native plants in Midwestern fence rows.
5. ______ More people are moving from urban areas to the “country” where there is more “natural
scenery.”
6. ______ Demand for mahogany and teak woods destroys many acres of rain forests each year.
7. ______ More than 60 percent of the animal life on the Hawaiian Islands is not native.
8. ______ In the United States, the deer population in many states is larger now than in any other
period of recorded history because natural predators have been destroyed by people who hunt or
fear these larger predators.
9. _______The number of eagles, peregrine falcons, and ospreys dropped steeply in the late 1960s
because of a pesticide called DDT that farmers sprayed on crops. DDT moved through the food
chain as insects ate the pesticide covered plants and birds ate the insects. The DDT caused the
birds to lay eggs with soft shells which cracked before the eggs could develop and hatch.
10. _____________
11. _____________
12. _____________
13. _____________