Transcript Threats to biodiversity

Threats to biodiversity
Extinct: A species that no
longer exists anywhere in the
world. Eg. Passenger pigeon.
Extirpated: A species
that no longer exists in a specific
area. Eg. Atlantic Walrus.
Endangered: A species
facing imminent extinction or
extirpation. Eg. Barn Owl
Threatened: A species
likely to become endangered if
factors reducing survival are not
changed. Eg. Polar Bear
What is threatening species?
Invasive Species
An invasive species is a
non-native whose
intentional or accidental
introduction impacts the
natural environment.
Habitat Loss
Imagine that you are standing atop the CN tower, but could
look 500 years back in time. What would it look like?
Habitat Fragmentation
• Fragmentation of ecosystems reduces their
sustainability.
• By fragmenting ecosystems, a larger area of the
habitat is exposed to the damaging effects of outside
influences.
Habitat
Certain factors can improve
the sustainability of
fragmented ecosystems.
These should be considered
during urban planning
and national/provincial
park design
Pollution
For most of human history,
we produced little waste.
Two things changed that:
1) Population growth
2) Industrial processes
Pollution
Acid Rain: Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from fossil fuel
burning lead to acid rain.
Acid rain causes species decline in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Oil Spills: Our use of oil tankers (eg. Exxon Valdezz), and oil drill (eg.
Deepwater Horizon) may lead to oil spills.
Oil is toxic and slow to break down.
Plastics at Sea: Plastics are long lasting, taking hundreds, or even
thousands of years to decompose.
Many plastics end up in our oceans.
There is an ‘Island’ twice the size of Texas in the pacific.
Oil Spills
What if the deepwater horizon spill
was in Toronto?
Scary Fact:
These pictures
showed the spill
after just two weeks.
The spill lasted for
over 3 months.
plastics@sea