Mission Biodiversity
1. How many species are found on Earth? 2 million
2. What percentage of life on Earth have we discovered?
15%
3. What does biodiversity do for us?
It provides us with food, many different species.
4. How are humans affecting biodiversity?
We are significantly reducing biodiversity through deforestation, pollution, and introduction of invasive
species.
5. How has the human population changed in the past 300 years?
The human population has changed from several million to several billion.
6. How many species go extinct every day?
130
Jaguars
7. What is an umbrella species?
A species that protects other species. More specifically a species will have several prey that it keeps their
populations in check.
8. Why is the Jaguar population at risk?
The jaguar population is at risk of losing their habitat. They are also at risk of being poached for their fur
coat.
9. What is fragmentation?
Is the segmenting of area that breaks up the ecosystem into smaller parts.
10. What is being done to preserve the Jaguar’s habitat in Eastern Costa Rica?
Militia are hired to help protect the area they have conserved for the jagurs.
11. Why do Jaguars hunt cows?
Their prey have been over-hunted and so they turn to eating cows.
12. What are migration corridors?
Migration corridors are corridors animals are able to travel through to move to different areas of the
forest undisturbed.
Invasive Species
13. How have the populations of Tuna, Shark and Swordfish changed over the past decades?
They have decreased by over 90% through their prey being consumed by invasive species.
14. Give an example of an invasive species.
Lion fish
15. What is an invasive species?
An invasive species is a species is not native to the environment and has a negative impact. They
overpopulate, eat all the food and have no natural predator.
16. How does the Lion Fish affect the coral reef ecosystem?
They consume all the fish that feed on the algae which in turns suffocates the organisms of the coral reef
because of too much algae.
Frogs
17. Why are frogs an important part of an ecosystem?
They consume poisonous insects and provide food for other species. They are also used in the
development of antibiotics.
18. Why are frog populations declining?
Through the use of insecticides, habitat destruction, and disease.
19. How has the fungus Chytrid affected the ecosystems of Panama?
The fungus Chytrid affects the ecosystem by devastating the population of frogs causing a disease to be
spread very easily. The alarming decrease in frog population will cause the food web to be weekend
allowing for an increase of insects infesting vegetation and an increase in hunting of other prey.
20. How many frog species are at risk of extinction?
6000
Blue Iguana
21. How have humans affected the Cayman Islands?
Habitat fragmentation and destruction have weekend the natural ecosystems of the Cayman islands.
22. What is the niche of the Blue Iguana?
The blue iguana eats large amounts of fruits and flowers. By doing this they help spread the seeds of
different plants helping maintain the vegetation of the forest.
23. What are the challenges of breeding Blue Iguanas?
They are few in numbers and in the wild they have difficulty finding their mate.
24. Why is it important to re-establish the iguana population?
The iguana are one of the largest consumers of plant vegetation that help maintain the ecosystem of the
forest.
Pigmy three-toed sloth
25. What is a mangrove forest?
The mangrove forest is the most useful ecosystem in terms of maintaining biodiversity. It contains close
to extinct species like the three toe pigmy sloths that mainly eat vegetation from this forest.
26. Why are pigmy sloths at risk for extinction?
They are small in numbers, are only found in the mangrove forest, and they are at risk of extinction due
to deforestation of this forest.
27. Why are scientists excited to see a sloth in the forest?
They found that the sloth can adapt to other sources of vegetation and therefore they have a greater area
to populate and less risk of extinction if something were to happen to the mangrove forest.
28. How can humans help species?
- Provide species with their own reserve/prevent destruction of their habitats through
deforestation.
- Respect biodiversity by reducing pollution i.e. releasing pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides
in the environment.
- Limit the negative impact of invasive species an ecosystem through biological control.
It Says, I Say and So….
Complete the table. “I Say” is a summary in your own words. “and So…” is the conclusion and/or
speculation that you can make based upon the other two columns.
It Says
I Say
and So…
Pg. 83
Species richness is the level of
In a given area there can be millions
“Biological
biodiversity in a certain area.
of species that occupy it. Many of the
diversity,…high species
Biodiversity is the variety of
species interact with one another to
richness.”
species found in a certain area. It
form an ecosystem. The more
can be calculated by counting the
species there are the more rich the
number of species in a specific
biodiversity and the healthier the
ecosystem.
ecosystem is. For example, there are
over 40 million species on earth to
form one giant ecosystem.
“This scenario can be
We are destroying the biodiversity We only know of 2 million of the
compared…without even
on earth through deforestation,
species on earth (15 %) of the
knowing their biological
urban and agricultural expansion
possible 40 million we don’t know
contents.”
before we even get a chance to
about. What is alarming is that with
know about certain species.
about 130 species becoming extinct a
day we may never know certain
species exist. Those species can be
truly beneficial to the integrity of our
ecosystem.
Pg. 85 “In Canada,…
examples of Canadian
species in each COSEWIC
classification.”
Pg. 87 “Fragmentation of
natural ecosystems…”
Pg. 88 “On a global scale,
…. raw materials”
COSEWIC is an organization that
monitors species survival. Species
can be extirpated (no longer exist
in a specific area but are looked
after in certain places), endangered
(when they no longer exist in the
wild) and threatened (with current
trend will become endangered).
Species survival are monitored
using these criteria.
An endangered species like the three
toed sloth, Jaguar, or even extirpated
species like the blue Iguana need our
direct attention to help preserve
them as they are integral to our
ecosystem. For the blue iguana they
needed a special reserve for them to
be able to repopulate in the wild and
continue to eat vegetation in that
ecosystem and help it by spreading
the plants seed from one place to
another.
When the ecosystem is broken up
Part of protecting an ecosystem is to
into many parts its ability to
keep it intact. When we take away
sustain itself is weakened. The
its resources we tend to endanger a
outside influences such as pollution species. Take the jaguar for example,
causes a greater negative effect on
we take away its habitat we take
the ecosystem.
away its food and hunting grounds.
It struggles to find food and it finds
other sources of food not common to
its niche, like the cows on farms.
We are the most serious threat to
The more fragmented the habitat the
biodiversity because of our need
fewer species there are and weaker
for food and raw materials. With
the ecosystem is in sustaining itself.
respect to habitat loss and
The reduction in land for jaguars will
fragmentation we put the
cause a reduction in its ability to
sustainability of terrestrial
hunt prey.
ecosystem at risk. This can be seen
most in Africa, latin America and
the carribean.
It Says
Pg. 90 “natural wetlands
are flat…, the coot and the
black tern.”
Pg. 91 “Introductions of
non-native
species…compete with
native species.”
Pg. 91 “Occasionally, an
introduced species…
negative effect on their
environment.”
Pg. 91 “There are well
over 3000 invasive
species….including
bluebirds and tree
swallows.”
Other
I Say
Natural wetlands provide the
abiotic factors necessary for
biodiversity and the conversion to
farmland will prevent high species
richness. Reestablishing wetlands
from abandoned farms will provide
species with the habitat to thrive in
Ontario.
Some non-native species find it
difficult to adapt to a new
environment. This is because they
may not have the tolerance for
certain abiotic factors and cannot
compete with the native species.
Invasive species are species that
are successful in a new
environment that they have no
known species or disease that can
regulate their population. They
have a negative effect on the
environment consuming all the
food and growing in population
uncontrollably.
There are over 3000 invasive
species in Canada. The Asian carp
and earwigs are an example of the
invasive species found throughout
Ontario. Another species that have
far reaching impacts are the
Starlings. They outcompete the
song birds for nesting sites. This
caused the decline in songbird
population and the explosion of
Starlings from 100 to 200 million in
the span of a 120 years.
Biological control
Introducing a non-native species in
the environment that has a positive
impact on the ecosystem. Usually,
it is a species that can hunt an
invasive species.
Mechanical control
The physical blocking or removal of
and So…
We need to preserve wetlands and
find natural ways of growing food.
Abiotic factors like fresh water,
enriched soil provide the necessary
habitat for species to live. Habitat
destruction impacts species
diversity.
Abiotic factors play a role in where
species can live. Species are adapted
to their environment and interact
with certain species based on those
abiotic factors.
Species like the lion fish can adapt in
a new environment. They can
devastate the coral reef ecosystem as
they consume all the fish that feed on
the algae. As a result the ecosystem
suffers because of the increase in
algae (no predators) suffocates other
larger species reducing the
population of tuna, swordfish and
shark. We need to find a way to
control the lion fish population.
A single lion fish can impact millions
of species in the coral reef. The coral
reef provides a nourishing ecosystem
for millions of species. A school of
lion fish can have far reaching
implications on the sustainability of
the coral reef ecosystem.
Biological Control
Introducing a predator to hunt the
lion fish, like the grouper is an
effective way in controlling the
invasive species of lion fish.
- Biological control does not
harm the ecosystem it
helps sustain it.
invasive species so they do not
harm the ecosystem.
Chemical control
Are chemicals that are used to
control invasive species, like
pesticides are used to control
insects destroying crops.
Mechanical Control
It is difficult to control invasive
species by hunting them. The lion
fish were hunted by man but it was
not enough they need another fish
(grouper) to hunt the lion fish.
Chemical control
The risks of pesticide or using
chemicals can affect other species
like frogs in tropical rainforests. This
can weaken their immune system
and reduce the number of frogs. This
affects the food web in the forest.