Conservation Flashcards
Name one species that is extinct (5)
Wooly mammoth Giant beaver Sabertooth tiger Giant sloth Mastodon
What is the cause of extinction? (6)
Natural extinction Climate change (heating/cooling) Change in sea levels Disease Invasive species Human extinction
How do humans cause extinction? (3)
Increased human population
Fragmentation of habitat
Pollution
Name one group that has extremely high biodiversity
Insects
Name one group that has low biodiversity
Mammals
Name a group that we know only a small percentage of the group (rest is undiscovered)
Fungi
What is the Gaia hypothesis?
James Lovelock’s theory that living matter on the earth collectively defines and regulates the material conditions necessary for the continuance of life
What is the superorganism idea?
Organism consisting of many organisms
Species conservation dependent on ecosystem conservation and vice versa
Interactions and more intact species diversity implies a more stable ecosystem
What threat has caused songbirds to decline?
Fragmentation
Because they travel south for the winter and while they are gone, humans demolish trees to create more room for houses and businesses and roads, which leads to the songbirds not having a place to live/build their nests when they come back to the state
Give an example of an invasive species we might find on campus (4)
Earthworms
Emerald Ash Borer
European Starlings
Garlic Mustard
How is natural extinction different than human extinction?
Natural extinction causes a small number of mammals to become extinct, while human extinction causes large numbers
What is ethnosphere?
The sum of all thoughts, myths, ideas, etc brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness
Human’s greatest legacy
Symbol of all that we are and all that we can be
What is biophilia and what does it mean to you?
Instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems
The urge to affiliate with other forms of life
I think that it means that someone is able to have the love of anything living and that they can be so passionate about something that they devote all of their time to it.
