Question

How does loss of habitat affect a population?

Place the causes and effects in order as they would occur.

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Remaining Attempts : 3
Activity 2

Answer 1

Here is a logical sequence showing how habitat loss leads to changes in a population, from immediate cause to long-term effect:

1. Habitat is altered or destroyed (cause) — e.g., deforestation, urbanization, agriculture, pollution.
2. Availability of resources falls — less food, shelter, nesting sites and mates.
3. Individual stress and mortality rise; birth rates fall — some individuals die or fail to reproduce; others emigrate.
4. Population size and density decline — fewer individuals remain in the area.
5. Habitat fragmentation isolates remaining groups — subpopulations become separated and gene flow is reduced.
6. Genetic diversity decreases and inbreeding increases — lowering fitness and adaptive potential.
7. Population becomes more vulnerable to disease, environmental change, and stochastic events.
8. Local extinction or severe long‑term decline (effect).

You can treat some steps as overlapping (for example, migration and mortality happen simultaneously), but this ordering shows the usual causal chain from habitat loss to extinction risk.