Endemism, Evolution and Extinction

In the Hawaiian Archipelago

The Hawaiian Islands are some of the most geographically isolated land

masses in the world

They are volcanic islands surrounded by the Pacific

Ocean

Except for one tiny atoll to the south, the Hawaiian Islands are separated from all other islands

by over 1000 miles!

So how did living things get to the Hawaiian Islands?

Make a guess!

By Wing (manu)

By Wind (makani)

Hawaii

By Water (moana)

When hardy, small or lost creatures made it to Hawaii

alive….

Survival wasn’t likely.Why do you think that was so?

Most people think of Hawaii as paradise but it is in fact, a chain of rugged volcanic

islands

It’s not easy to survive on barren volcanic rock

Scientists estimate that the survival rate was one successful natural colonization every 35,000 years.

When the Hawaiian islands emerged from the ocean, they had no coral

reefsReefs take millions of years to form as the island

slowly becomes an atoll

Lacking suitable habitat, shelter and food…..

Most species that arrived alive to Hawaii soon perished

Today, the reefs of the remote Hawaiian Islands team with

life!

25% of the marine species found near the northwestern Hawaiian

islands that make up the Papahānaumokuākea Marine

National Monument…

Are found nowhere else in the world!

http://www.marinelifephotography.com/fishes/blennies/blennies.htm

Can you explain that?

Talk to your classmates and try to come up with an

explanation!

Hawaii has another distinction…

Approximately 30% of all endangered species in the United

States are in Hawaii

Why do you think there are so many native (and endemic) species in Hawaii that are

threatened with extinction?