Threatened species

Behavior Due to their rarity and secretive behavior, the LPS is possibly one of the least understood species of large snakes in North America (Rudolph et al. 1997), however, there have been a few studies published that describe the burrowing behavior and movement patterns of the snake. Recently, it has been published that the snake exhibits diurnal activity patterns in its primary habitat of open pine forests on sandy soils with an abundance of herbaceous vegetation (J.B. Pierce et al. 2014).…

the last glacial period (Nagel, 2010). These relics are seen today in the form of outcrops, caves, and ancient species thriving in the cool crevices of this geography (Nagel, 2010). The topography…

PBL #1: Evolve a Primate! Species Name: Crescens ignis Common Name: Fire Crescent Monkey Geographic Distribution: Crescens ignis are native to regions in the heart of the Amazon’s tropical rainforests. They live in highly arboreal where there are seasonal changes in rainfall and temperatures. According to Fragaszy (1950), with such a highly arboreal area these monkeys are able to “use all levels from the canopy to the understory, going to the ground to drink, forage or travel” (p. 1). These…

future. Without a doubt, the life of all the species on Earth depends on the peculiar sequence written in their DNA, which may me beneficial or detrimental, ultimately writing the story of a population. Genetic Diversity…

pinniped animal, belonging to the genus Neophoca and the species cinerea.. Within this report there will be discussion of why Australian Sea Lions are considered a keystone species, including what their role is in resourcing, dominating, as well as maintaining the ecosystem they populate; scenarios of what would happen if they went extinct; how humans have impacted them; and how humans can resolve their activities. Why it is a Keystone Species: It has been proven that Australian Sea Lions create…

Hector’s dolphin, also known as Popoto, is the rarest marine species known in existence and one of the smallest known dolphins. There are less than 50 Maui’s dolphins in the world today, and this number is still dropping, they are almost extinct. Humans are the biotic factor of the decrease in their population. Maui’s dolphins are carnivores, their preys are small fish and squids. The species of Maui's dolphins are severely threatened by humans. These dolphins prefer to stay near the coastline,…

hundreds of species. Sample and Cheng, authors of Forest Conservation Policy: A Reference Handbook, emphasize that, “Plant and animal species, many of them dependent on forest ecosystems, are quietly going extinct—at a rate faster than at any time since a comet smashed into Earth 60 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs” (1). Deforestation is eliminating shelters, destroying hunting grounds for carnivores, taking away food sources of herbivores, and, essentially, killing off every…

supply, habitation, influencing the density of predators or occurrence of disease (biological control) (Fred, 2008). Manipulative strategies are used usually when a population is to be harvested or when it is observed that the numbers of a certain species has exceeded the carrying capacity of the area (over population) or when its densities become too low. Such manipulative decisions according to Fred (2008) are subjective and therefore could be debated by other interest groups in the wildlife…

biodiversity loss, specifically a keystone species, on a terrestrial ecosystem. Biodiversity can be explained by breaking down the two words combined to form the word. Bio is a Greek word used as a prefix meaning life. Diversity can be used in many disciplines to identify the number of variety of species of a particular subject. Typically, in Science, as noted by Perring et al., there are usually three levels used to measure diversity. The individual level, the species level, and the community…

organisms in an ecosystem. This variety can be between species, within species, and between ecosystems, but in this lab, only the variety between species will be discussed to quantify the biodiversity of the target ecosystem. Biodiversity can be quantified by two main aspects which are species richness, and species eveness. Species richness is the number of species observed per sample of an ecosystem, and if there are a higher amount of different species within one sample of an ecosystem, then…