Depauperate ecosystem

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/depauperate-ecosystem

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the ecological structure?Characterized by low species richness, simplified food webs, and reduced trophic complexity
2. Why do deserts and polar regions have few species?Deserts and polar regions have harsh conditions like little water, extreme cold, or low nutrients. These limits make it hard for many species to live there, so only a few can survive.
3. How can simple ecosystems help new species grow?When a new species arrives in a depauperate area, it faces less competition and fewer predators. This can let it use many different resources and sometimes create new species over time.

Species Richness: A fundamental measure of biodiversity, quantifying the number of distinct species within a defined area or ecosystem.
Trophic Complexity: Refers to the intricate web of feeding relationships and energy transfer pathways within an ecosystem.
Ecological Niche: The functional role and spatial distribution of a species within its ecosystem, encompassing its interactions and resource utilization.
Adaptive Radiation: The rapid diversification of a single ancestral lineage into multiple new forms, each adapted to a different ecological niche.