B3 Life on Earth

B3 Life on Earth

Find out about

why some species are under threat whether it matters if species become extinct

Extinction!

Going hungry
Plants and animals need other species in their habitat. For example, in this food chain spiders eat caterpillars.
leaf caterpillar spider shrew owl

Over the last few million years many species of plants and animals have lived on Earth. Most of these species have died out. They are extinct. There is fossil evidence of at least five mass extinctions on Earth. Now we are at the beginning of another.

Endangered species
Where an animal or plant lives is called its habitat. Any quick changes in their habitat can put them at risk of extinction. Around the world over 12 000 species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction. They are endangered. So if the caterpillars all died, the spiders could be at risk. That could also endanger the shrew and the owl.

The food web Changes in the environment

Royal Bengal tigers are already endangered. Rising sea levels from global warming may flood their last habitat.

All living things need factors like water and the right temperature to survive. Rising temperatures are changing many habitats. This global warming is putting many species at risk.

Most animals eat more than one thing. Many different food chains contain the same animals. They can be joined together into a food web.

owl

sparrowhawk

weasel

W ildlife begin s to feel the heat of global war min g

New species
New species moving into the habitat can put another one at risk.

MEXICO

Animals and plants compete with each other for the things they need. Two different species that need exactly the same things cannot live together.

The new species could be a predator of the species already living there. If the new species causes disease, it could wipe out the native population.

shrews centipedes, ground beetles

spiders

insect-eating birds seedeating birds

mice voles

woodlice, millipedes

plant-feeding insects, aphids, caterpillars

hoverflies

Key words
extinct habitat endangered predator disease food web

COSTA RICA

EUROPE

dead leaves
BRAZIL AUSTRALIA SOUTH AFRICA

shrubs and hedgerow plants

flowers

berries/seeds

A new animal coming into a food web can affect plants and animals already living there.

d, Six regions were studie the representing 20% of Earths land area.
A large international study says that up to a quarter of the species on Earth face extinction from global warming.

Questions 1 Look at the food web on this page. a A disease kills all the flowering plants. Explain what happens to the number of hoverflies. b Mink move into the habitat. They eat voles. i The number of mice decreases. Explain why. ii Explain what would happen to the number of caterpillars.

2 Explain what is meant by a extinct b endangered.

3 Name two things that a plant species may compete for b animal species may compete for

Red squirrels used to live all over the UK. Now the larger American grey squirrels have taken over most of their habitats.

In the 1960s, the virus that causes Dutch Elm disease came to the UK. It destroyed most of the UK elm population.

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