What danger does a specialists face that a generalists does not?

Answer 1

The danger faced by a specialist species is that its food source will run out, or its habitat be destroyed. A specialist is a species which survives on a fairly limited diet (e.g. koalas, which feed almost exclusively on certain species of eucalyptus leaves) or is restricted to a particular locality (such as the tuatara of New Zealand, a species found in only a few offshore islands of the country).

Because the specialist has such a limited range of food or habitat, it is more vulnerable to loss of food sources or habitat than a generalist is.

Generalists are species which can survive in a wide variety of habitats, or feed on a range of different foods (e.g. the Virginia opossum). As a species, they are far less vulnerable to habitat loss, or to the possibility of losing a primary food source, as they can adapt to finding other foods.