The threats to many of the world’s amphibian species and the reason why the hastening of the extinction of amphibian species through human activities should be avoided.
Answer to Problem 1CR
Some of the threats faced by amphibians include increased hunting for the skin, hoofs, nails, and flesh of these animals; polluting of water bodies; and deforestation. The amphibian population should be protected from becoming extinct as they are good biological indicators and the potential source of certain important medicines. In addition, they also play a major role in the food chain by controlling the insect population.
Explanation of Solution
Amphibians are a class of cold-blooded organisms that live in dual mode. They live part of their life cycle in water and part of their life on land. As they require water for fertilization, they cannot be completely considered as terrestrial animals. Amphibians include frogs, salamanders, toads, and many others.
Amphibians are presently under the threat of extinction due to human activities, such as increased hunting and poaching, water pollution, and deforestation. Animals are hunted and poached for various products, such skin, nails, teeth, hoofs and so forth. In response to these anthropogenic activities, the number of amphibians on the Earth has progressively declined.
Polluting water bodies with industrial chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides that run off from agricultural lands would adversely affect the life of amphibians and other aquatic organisms. Animals face disturbance in their breeding and fertilization processes, and they also lose their habitats.
Deforestation is also a cause for the extinction of the amphibians as they lose their natural habitats, which makes it difficult for them to survive in new habitats and conditions, and the animals tend to die off in such a situation.
The extinction or a decrease in the majority of the amphibian population can result in destructive effects. This is due to several reasons. One of those is the considerable role of the amphibians in the food chain that works to balance various natural processes.
Several adult amphibians feed on insects for food. Frogs and toads are known to feed on the larva of mosquito that spreads diseases such as malaria, typhoid. Hence, without these amphibians, the population of certain insects would considerably increase and the occurrence of some insect-caused diseases would also increase drastically. Amphibians also keep the water bodies clean by eating off algae and other fungal population.
Moreover, amphibians act as important bioindicators of environmental changes, such as water and air pollution, habitat loss, ultraviolet radiation, and climatic fluctuations. The decline in the number of amphibians indicates the presence of a deteriorating condition in a particular area, which adversely affects the life of amphibians.
The compounds present in the secretions from the skin of some amphibians may be useful in many pharmaceutical products. A number of such compounds have been separated and used as antibiotics, painkillers, and also in the treatments of heart disease and burns. Therefore, if amphibians vanish, these potential medical benefits will also be wiped out with them.
Want to see more full solutions like this?
Chapter 4 Solutions
Living In The Environment
- For the past 3 million years the earth has experienced glacial-interglacial cycles at regular intervals that coincide with the Milankovitch Cycles. Please briefly describe the three Milankovitch Cycles and their timescales. What is the leading theory for why the timing of glacial-interglacial cycles is connected to these Milankovitch Cycles?arrow_forwardWhy do waterfalls move backwards over time? In your explanation, please use the term “nickpoint”?arrow_forwardThe picture below is of the Kaskawulsh Glacier in Yukon, Canada. What is the name of the type of feature that the red arrows are pointing to in the middle of the glacier and how are these features formed? In your answer please also define the term lateral moraine and how lateral moraines relate to the feature with the red arrows?arrow_forward
- it was stated that one major effect of rivers is to flatten out the continents. How do rivers flatten continents?arrow_forwardThe figure below shows the average change in glacier mass per unit area for various mountainous regions around the world. Why are the globe’s mountain glaciers shrinking? Does glacial melt increase or decrease the amount of water stored on the continents? What are the factors in the continental water budget equation that must change in order to restore equilibrium when glaciers melt ? What is the effect on global sea level?arrow_forwardWhat is continental precipitation recycling ?Using the concept of precipitation, please explain why changes in landcover in one place can feed back to impact the climate not only in the area where the landcover change occurred but also in other regions?arrow_forward
- In the western United States, does severe forest fire tend to increase or decrease streamflow? What are the two main reasons hypothesized to cause this effect?arrow_forwardForest-fire sizes in the western US have grown rapidly in recent decades. made the case that this was not due to increased human population and resultant human-caused ignitions. What was the main evidence for this?arrow_forwardDraw a cross section with a tree growing out of Earth’s surface (so I know which side is the surface). Add a dipping joint and label the hanging wall and footwall blocks. Draw a second cross section (again with a tree on the surface of the Earth) that shows how Earth’s surface would be offset along this joint if it turned into a normal fault. Label the hanging wall and footwall and use arrows to indicate the motion of the hanging wall relative to the footwall. Now draw a third cross section with all the same elements as in parts A and B, but for a trust/reverse fault. Imagine the same cross section either in three dimensions, or in a bird’s-eye view from top down. Draw what this area would look like after a right-lateral strike-slip fault. Label the strike of the fault and use arrows to show directions of movementarrow_forward
- Examine the strike and dip of the rock units on the Devil's Fence geologic map in Figure 6.21. Draw multiple large arrows on the map, pointing in the direction of dip on several rock units. Do the rock layers located near the center of the map in Section 14 dip toward the northwest or southeast? The same rocks in Section 14 are also found in Section 18. Do the rocks in Section 18 dip toward the east or west? What is the approximate angle of dip of the units in Section 18?arrow_forward1. Draw a dashed line representing the hinge line of the large geologic structure that occupies most of the map. Label the hinge line. 2. Are the rocks getting older or younger farther from the hinge line? 3. Is this geologic structure a plunging anticline or syncline? 4. Provide two lines of evidence that support your answer to Question 8.arrow_forwardOn the map in Figure 6.21, write the word oldest where the oldest sedimentary rock unit is exposed at the sur-face and the word youngest where the youngest sedimentary rocks occur.arrow_forward
Applications and Investigations in Earth Science ...Earth ScienceISBN:9780134746241Author:Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K. Lutgens, Dennis G. TasaPublisher:PEARSON
Exercises for Weather & Climate (9th Edition)Earth ScienceISBN:9780134041360Author:Greg CarbonePublisher:PEARSON
Environmental ScienceEarth ScienceISBN:9781260153125Author:William P Cunningham Prof., Mary Ann Cunningham ProfessorPublisher:McGraw-Hill Education
Earth Science (15th Edition)Earth ScienceISBN:9780134543536Author:Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K. Lutgens, Dennis G. TasaPublisher:PEARSON
Environmental Science (MindTap Course List)Earth ScienceISBN:9781337569613Author:G. Tyler Miller, Scott SpoolmanPublisher:Cengage Learning
Physical GeologyEarth ScienceISBN:9781259916823Author:Plummer, Charles C., CARLSON, Diane H., Hammersley, LisaPublisher:Mcgraw-hill Education,