https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil Hawaiian Islands en-us 2020-02-05 20:45:39 UTC 2026-02-25 19:40:55 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f308.png 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441792512 The original ecosystem of the Hawaiian Islands had very little biodiversity. The islands are more than 2,500 miles away from the nearest mainland, so the species that lived there were unique and were found nowhere else. Because the finch species of Hawaii couldn't interbreed, it slowly evolved into 54 different species. Also, many bird species couldn't fly. The owl and hawk were the finch species' only predators. The only other animals on the islands besides large amounts of reptiles, amphibians, and insects, were bats, seals, and tree snails.]]> 2020-02-06 19:21:19 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441792512 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441805696 As the Hawaiian honeycreepers evolved, they adapted differently to their niches, specifically how they ate. Nectar-feeding honeycreepers had curved beaks designed to get nectar from plants, Insectivorous honeycreepers had long, thin beaks to pick up insects, seed-eaters had short, strong bills to crack through seed shells, and other honeycreepers had strong, hooked bills that cracked wood in order to get insects in trees. The only predators of these birds were hawks and owls who also ate almost everything else. Bats were the only land mammals, eating bugs and fruit. Seals were the only sea mammals, eating  fish and crustaceans. Reptiles, as a group, could eat any type of organism on the island besides the hawks and owls. Amphibians ate insects and insects ate plant materials or each other. The islands were uninhabited by humans.]]> 2020-02-06 19:39:32 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441805696 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441822599

http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/hawaiihoneycreepers.html

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=86

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/mongoose/

]]> 2020-02-06 20:03:50 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441822599 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441831352 2020-02-06 20:19:06 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441831352 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441879796 The insects, plants, and tertiary consumers are the most important to this ecosystem. Without insects, birds, amphibians, mammals, and reptiles would all lose a food source and plants may overgrow. The plants are vital to the entire community because they are the primary producers of energy and if there wasn't enough, everything else would die. The tertiary consumers are also important because they balance the cycle by consuming smaller animals to avoid over population of animal species and, eventually, under population of plant species.]]> 2020-02-06 22:04:30 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441879796 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441885942 The Small Indian Mongoose is native to Iran, but was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by settlers. As Polynesian settlers and Europeans found the island, they began changing the ecosystem. They cut down forests, started farming and bring in farm animals, and growing nonnative crops. These ships of people brought over rats, and soon, rats were overpopulating the island without predators. The mongoose was brought to Hawaii because it eats rats. They can live and adapt to a variety of environments and feed on other things like birds, eggs, some reptiles, and plants.]]> 2020-02-06 22:21:03 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441885942 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441886332 This species has been introduced to many other islands dealing with the same problems settlers brought them there for, overpopulation of snakes or rats. The mongoose population benefited the island for the settlers and some of the animals when they first got there by lowering the populations of rats, but they started to lower the populations of the native biodiversity too. There have been species that have even gone extinct due to their arrival. ]]> 2020-02-06 22:22:11 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441886332 985511 https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441886536 After the arrival of the Small Indian Mongoose, the food web changed drastically. Their diet normally consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and plant material. They have been blamed for the extinction of the the ground-nesting birds on other islands and are currently feeding on 8 endangered Hawaiian birds. The mongooses negative impact on the native species of the Hawaiian Islands outweigh their minor impact on the rat problem. As the native bird population lowers, it impacts the entire food web. Plants may overgrow, insects will lose a predator, and the hawks, owls, and reptiles will lose a major food source, disrupting the energy flow between organisms throughout the ecosystem.]]> 2020-02-06 22:22:48 UTC https://padlet.com/985511/2y6mwnsheoil/wish/441886536