How can a change in the environment lead to the extinction of a species?

Question

logical answer please!

Answer 1

If a specialized species has a very narrow niche such as a temperature range, then something alters that temperature range such as global warming the species will have to adapt or die.  If it happens suddenly then the species will have no time to adapt.

Answer 2

If I change any key part of the complex supportive environment you need, oxygen, food, water, tempearature, community, you will fail to breed and soon die.

When there are no icebergs around Northern Canada, polar bears cannot hunt; they will all drown or starve, they will be extinct outside zoos.

When the seas become more acidic due to increase CO2 in atmosphere, then corals & moluscs cannot build shells, they are easily predated or simply die/fail to thrive & breed, they become extinct.

Answer 3

when you speak of environmental changes it is important to remember that there is a broad spectrum of elements invlolved.

for instance, even minor siltation can inhibit oxygen absorbtion but that is not the only factor. sunlight penetration, heat, PH factor, bacterial content, heavy metals, and other contaminants... all are components of water health. too little, too much of one or the other causes an imbalance for microbs, plants, insects, et al that are indigenous or peculiar to an area.

what was once living, fresh water essentially "dies" and will not support other, larger aquatic life (plants and fish) nor the wildlife and surrounding habitat that depend on this food chain.

Wildlife retreats from an area further impacting the spot and "dead" water flows downstream to the rivers and lakes carrying the negative impact down to other areas and other species.

as i stated earlier, even small incrimental changes in every aspect of a habitat can cause the destruction of a species and start a chain reaction of sorts.

i live in middle tennessee and work in environmental codes enforcment. in my small village alone, i have 5-6 endangered fish, 4 endangered plants, a bat and untold insects and microbes.

the area is full of karst features (caves, sinkholes, drop outs, fractures) and vast variety of surface conditions.

middle tennessee has the one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world rivaled only by the congo and the amazon.

fully 50% of the fresh water species of fish in north america habitate the waters of this area.

there is a long list of endangered and protected species right in our back yard.

everything from building a super wal-mart to walking your dog makes a difference.

remember... it all runs downhill... if you create the problem, you have to deal with it eventually when you go to the well for a drink.

Answer 4

Local environment changes, certain plants die out, animals that eat those plants are unable to adapt to each new types of plant,  so they die

IN turn carnivores that feed on those particular herbivores need to find alternative sources of food so they are drastically reduced in numbers due to lack of food. This may lead to not enough of the species to propagate and these may also die out.

Answer 5

There are a lot of ways.  A shift in climate can wipe out a species' food supply, for example, or open the door to new diseases.  Here's two examples:

1) several species of frogs in the "cloud forests" of Costa Rica have recently gone extinct.  As far as bioligists can tell, modest increases in temperature allowed fungi infections to take hold--and the frogs had no resistance to these infections.

2) Currently there is real concern about the effect of the rapidly decreasing pack ice on the polar bear population.  The polar bears live on fish--and there's plentty of fish.  But the bears need to be able to go out on pack ice to hunt.  Without the ice, they can't get at the fish--and many are starving to death as a result.  Since the pack ice will continue to decline, at least for several years, this is a real threat to the entire species.

There's other ways environmental change can threaten species, as well.  Check out livescience.com--I think they have some stuff on this topic.