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Conservation of Declining Populations 02:07

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Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.

Conservation efforts often utilize scientific approaches to identify the reasons, or the agents, causing the population to decline. This approach then devises steps to remove, oppose, or neutralize the agents.

Conservation efforts may also introduce a test group to determine the probable cause of the decline. The...

Threats to Biodiversity 01:50

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There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss 01:57

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Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.

In land plants, the uppermost cell layer of a plant leaf, called the epidermis, is coated with a waxy substance called the cuticle. This hydrophobic layer is composed of the polymer cutin and...

Habitat Fragmentation 02:31

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Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.

Perforation and dissection often occur during the initial stages of...

Limits to Natural Selection 01:38

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Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.

For one, natural selection can only act upon existing genetic variation. Hypothetically, red tusks may enhance elephant survival by deterring ivory-seeking poachers. However, if there are no gene variants—or alleles—for red tusks, natural selection cannot...

Global Climate Change 01:50

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Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.

Past Periods of Warming and Cooling

In...