How Is the Endangerment of Polar Bears a Threat to Biodiversity

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How is the endangerment of Polar Bears a threat to biodiversity? Biodiversity is used to describe all the organisms and ecosystems on Earth and is essential to life on Earth as it is crucial for the functioning of all ecosystems which provide us with products such as oxygen, fresh water and food which are crucial for survival. However with the endangerment of the Ursus maritimus, commonly known as the Polar Bear, there may be negative effects on the Earths biodiversity. The U. maritimus is an essential part of the food chain in the arctic ecosystem and with its extinction not only will biodiversity be affected but it will have a chain effect on other organisms of the carefully constructed food web of the Arctic alongside human causes such as global warming and minimal reproduction rates. The Ursus maritimus most commonly known as the Polar Bear, ranges from seven to nine feet long, making them on of the largest mammals on earth. On average a male Polar Bear can weigh over a ton while the females are only one third of the weight sitting on 300-550 pounds. (Roach. J 2007) These carnivorous animals have a diet consisting of seals however they have been known to eat walruses, carcasses of whale and in some cases were they are desperate enough they will eat whatever meat they can find. (Endangered Species List) The Polar Bears live in an Arctic ecosystem as they rely on sea ice for their habitats where they can live twenty to thirty years. However, although these excellent swimmers prefer ice islands, edges of floating ice and ice floes they can occasionally be found on land located in the Arctic Circle. (Glick. D 2006) The endangerment of the Polar Bear has a negative effect on biodiversity as it will make negative changes on the Arctic food web. The Polar Bear is at the top of the food web in the Arctic and relies heavily on seals as their main food source,

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