BRAINCAKEHawaii
The Hawaiian Islands are one of the best examples of how isolation creates biodiversity, and of how human activity can destroy it.
The islands are volcanic and are among the most isolated land on Earth, more than 3,000 km from the nearest continent. Very few species ever reached them, and each new arrival found many empty niches. The colonists evolved in isolation, often by adaptive radiation, so Hawaii has an extremely high level of endemism. Around 90% of its native flowering plant species are found nowhere else.
Hawaiian honeycreepers are the best-known example. More than 50 species are thought to have evolved from a single finch-like ancestor. Their beaks vary greatly: thick, strong beaks for cracking seeds, thin curved beaks for probing flowers for nectar, and short beaks for catching insects.
Sign in free to see the rest of this lesson, the R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps and the quiz
BrainCake is free. Make an account in seconds and pick up where this page stops.
Key terms in this lesson
- adaptive radiation
- The rapid evolution of many new species from a single common ancestor, each adapted to a different niche.
- endemism
- The state of a species being found naturally in only one geographical area.
More in Biodiversity
- Biodiversity of Different Habitats
- Changing Biodiversity
- Allele Frequency
- Measuring Genetic Biodiversity
- Ethical Argument for Biodiversity
- Ecosystem Services
- Conserving Ecosystems
- Conservation
All 22 lessons in Biodiversity · All Edexcel AS-level Biology topics