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NATURE UNBOUND
LESSON 5 – EXTINCTION:
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Conservation
Mr. Dieckhoff
USING YOUR COMPUTERS/PHONES

Working with the people at your table, determine
what the following animals have in common:
Carolina parakeet
 Gray Wolf
 Passenger Pigeon
 White-Footed Mouse

EXTINCTION VS
EXTIRPATION

Extinction –


99.9% of all species
have gone extinct
Extirpation –
TYPES OF EXTINCTIONS

Natural (Background)
Extinction –


Example – fescue
grass replaces prairie
grass
Mass Extinction –
5 previous mass
extinctions
 Some believe we are in
the 6th

ENDANGERED

Endangered –

In Missouri:



600 plants
300 animals (Eastern Spotted Skunk in picture)
What species are endangered in Missouri?







Take 5 minutes. Research one of Missouri’s endangered
plants or animals.
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/endangeredspecies
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/lists/missouricty.html
What is the habitat of the species?
What is it’s food supply?
How is it distributed across Missouri?
In your opinion, why is this species endangered in
Missouri?
FAILURE TO ADAPT

Extinction is a result of natural selection –
species disappear when they fail to adapt to
changing ecological conditions
CAUSES OF EXTINCTION
1.
Fragmentation – carving of large blocks of habitat into
smaller, scattered pieces
 Example – Carolina parakeet

2.
Adapt quickly to a new location and
push out native species
 Example – see next slide

3.
Hunted, fished, or harvested to
extinction
 Example – Passenger Pigeons

4.

Changes in global temperatures have wide-range effects on
environmental conditions and are expected to cause
population changes
INVASIVE SPECIES
Exotic, non-native species – organism that has
moved into an area in which it previously did not
exist
 Invasive –
 Examples:

Emerald Ash Borer
1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JTKjszvOLw

Zebra Mussels
2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svlSW40uU2g
Sericea Lespedeza
3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlFBexymTjk
SAVING SPECIES FROM EXTINCTION



Problem – Grassland birds are declining faster
and more consistently than birds in other
ecosystems (example – Eastern Meadowlark)
Native grasslands have been replaced by urban
sprawl and tall fescue
Solution Ideas?

Work with the people at your table to come up with
what Missouri should do to help grassland birds.
WHY SOME SPECIES ARE MORE PRONE TO
EXTINCTION?

Generalist –

Specialist –

Tend to be smaller
populations with less
genetic variation
because of inbreeding
PREDICTING EXTINCTION

Factors which
affect
extinction:
Niche
tolerance
 Populations
size
 Geographic
range

CONCLUSION
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Extinction
Extirpation
Endangered
Causes of Extinction
Invasive Species
Predicting Extinction
Consequences of Extinction