Culprit – виновник

bleaching – беление, обесцвечивание

parrotfish – скаровая рыба

graze on the algae – пастись, жить на водорослях

7. Make the right word (word formation) –ic, –ion, -ly, -ive, -al, -able, -er.

Huge decline of amphibians is a major threat to global biodiversity

Many amphibian species are at the brink of (extinct). The decline of amphibians is happening in all corners of the world and scientists still do not fully understand the reasons behind such (excess) population loss. There could be many different causes behind the decline of amphibians such as habitat loss, (environment) pollution, invasive species, (predate), (reproduce), disease and of course climate change.

Some scientists believe that this rapid decline of amphibians is a clear sign of another major (extinct) episode in the earth's history. The current rate of their extinction has reached (horror) level as it is happening more than 200 times (fast) than that of the average extinction rate.

In the last century or so, our environment and our planet in general has experienced severe environmental changes and nowadays amphibians are among the species (adapt) to these changes.

Dr Andrew Blaustein, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University, has stated that one of the main reasons for amphibians struggle to keep up with these changes is the fact that "with a permeable skin and exposure to both (aqua) and terrestrial problems, amphibians face a double whammy".

Science is running out of time to save amphibians. So many different extinction causes make this problem (extreme) complex and science is so far finding it very hard to come up with the adequate answers.

While some causes are (nature) the others originate from humans. In many areas of the world human activity represents a major hurdle to amphibian (adapt), the one that only few amphibian species will be capable to overcome.

Amphibians are (ecology) indicators and their (mass) decline in the last few decades is a major threat to global biodiversity. The worst part is that these species are often ignored and overlooked when it comes to (conserve). Existing (conserve) efforts as well as (science) efforts are not enough and only a miracle can stop their further population decline.

Invasive species – инвазивные виды, агрессивные.

permeable – неплотный, водопроникаемый

whammy – угроза поражения, невезение

8. Read the text and fill in the gaps with the right word: waters, food, competition, population, planet, ecosystems, change, conditions, species, ice.

The main reasons behind penguin decline in Antarctica

Several recent studies have confirmed that a number of penguin species at Antarctica, especially chinstrap and Adelie penguin are declining, and the main reason for this is not enough ______, which is connected with climate ______.

The penguin's diet mostly consists of Antarctic krill, a little shrimp-like animal. Krills belong to the most abundant species on our______ (there can be sometimes up to 30,000 krills in a cubic-meter of seawater) but their abundance has started to severely reduce for penguins because of not only warmer______ but also because of the increased ________from whales and seals who also have krills on their menu.

Krills play extremely important role in Antarctica's _______, and their abundance is the key in preserving the unique Antarctica's biodiversity. The chinstrap and Adelie penguin have been experiencing a decline in population by up to 50% since the mid 80s.

The main difference between these two penguin ______is the fact that Adelie penguins love ice while chinstrap penguin avoid ice. Since both of these penguin ________experienced severe decline in last 20-30 years the scientists concluded that the loss of _____cover is not the main reason behind their decline but rather the lack of krill.

This was clearly confirmed by comparing the numbers of these two penguin species in the 19th to mid-20th Centuries (when penguin population was the highest because humans almost extirpated seals, baleen whales and some fish which meant more krill for penguins) and today.

The abundance of krill for penguins is not only reduced because of many competitors but also because of climate change. Warmer waters and less ice cover is altering the adequate physical _______necessary to sustain large krill populations. If warming continues there will be less krill, and with it the less penguins in Antarctica.