Chapter 56: Conservation Biology and Global ChangeMULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.1) Which of the following ecological locations has the greatest species diversity? 1) _______
A) islands
B) tundra
C) deciduous forests
D) grasslands
E) tropics
2) What is the estimated number of extant species on Earth? 2) _______
A) 1,000 to 50,000
B) 10,000,000 to 100,000,000
C) 50,000 to 150,000
D) 500,000 to 1,000,000
E) 5 billion to 10 billion
3) Estimates of current rates of extinction 3) _______
A) suggest that rates of extinction have decreased globally.
B) suggest that one-half of all animal and plant species may be gone by the year 2100.
C) indicate that we have reached a state of stable equilibrium in which speciation rates equal extinction rates.
D) indicate that only 1% of all of the species that have ever lived on Earth are still alive.
E) indicate that rates may be greater than the mass extinctions at the close of the Cretaceous period.
4) Extinction is a natural phenomenon. It is estimated that 99% of all species that ever lived are now extinct. Why then do we say that we are now experiencing an extinction (loss of biodiversity) crisis? 4) _______
A) Scientists have finally identified most of the species on Earth and are thus able to quantify the number of species becoming extinct.
B) Most biodiversity hot spots have been destroyed by recent ecological disasters.
C) The current rate of extinction is high and human activities threaten biodiversity at all levels.
D) Humans have greater medical needs than at any other time in history, and many potential medicinal compounds are being lost as plant species become extinct.
E) Humans are ethically responsible for protecting endangered species.
5) Which of the following provides the best evidence of a biodiversity crisis? 5) _______
A) the incursion of a non-native species
B) increasing pollution levels
C) climate change
D) decrease in regional productivity
E) high rate of extinction
6) Although extinction is a natural process, current extinctions are of concern to environmentalists because 6) _______
A) the rate of extinction is unusually high.
B) more animals than ever before are going extinct.
C) current extinction is primarily affecting plant diversity.
D) most current extinctions are caused by introduced species.
E) None of the options are correct.
7) Which of the following terms includes all of the others? 7) _______
A) species diversity
B) species richness
C) genetic diversity
D) ecosystem diversity
E) biodiversity
8) According to the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), the difference between an endangered species and a threatened one is that 8) _______
A) an endangered species is closer to extinction.
B) only endangered species are vertebrates.
C) a threatened species is closer to extinction.
D) threatened species are endangered species outside the U.S. borders.
E) endangered species are mainly tropical.
9) Which of the following groups is most threatened by global extinctions? 9) _______
A) fish B) plants C) amphibians D) birds E) mammals
10) To better comprehend the magnitude of current extinctions, it will be necessary to 10) ______
A) identify more of the yet unknown species of organisms on Earth.
B) differentiate between plant extinction and animal extinction numbers.
C) monitor atmospheric carbon dioxide levels more closely.
D) use the average extinction rates of vertebrates as a baseline.
E) focus on identifying more species of mammals and birds.
11) What term did E. O. Wilson coin for our innate appreciation of wild environments and living organisms? 11) ______
A) bioethics
B) biophobia
C) biophilia
D) bioremediation
E) landscape ecology
12) We should care about loss in biodiversity in the populations of other species because of 12) ______
A) potential loss of genes, some of which may code for proteins useful to humans.
B) the risk to global ecological stability.
C) potential loss of medicines and other products yet undiscovered from threatened species.
D) biophilia.
E) All of the options are correct.
13) The most serious consequence of a decrease in global biodiversity would be the 13) ______
A) loss of source of genetic diversity to preserve endangered species.
B) increase in global warming and thinning of the ozone layer.
C) increase in the abundance and diversity of edge-adapted species.
D) loss of species for "bioprospecting."
E) potential loss of ecosystem services on which people depend.
14) Which of the following is the most direct threat to biodiversity? 14) ______
A) habitat destruction
B) overexploitation of selected species
C) the depletion of the ozone layer
D) increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide
E) zoned reserves
15) According to most conservation biologists, the single greatest threat to global biodiversity is 15) ______
A) stratospheric ozone depletion.
B) global climate change resulting from a variety of human activities.
C) alteration or destruction of the physical habitat.
D) chemical pollution of water and air.
E) overexploitation of certain species.
16) What is the biological significance of genetic diversity between populations? 16) ______
A) Diseases and parasites are not spread between separated populations.
B) Genes for adaptive traits to local conditions make microevolution possible.
C) The population that is most fit would survive by competitive exclusion.
D) Isolated populations become more fit.
E) Genetic diversity allows for species stability by preventing speciation.
17) Introduced species can have deleterious effects on biological communities by 17) ______
A) competing with native species for space or breeding/nesting habitat.
B) competing with native species for food or light.
C) preying on native species.
D) displacing native species.
E) All of the options are correct.
18) Overexploitation encourages extinction and is most likely to affect 18) ______
A) large animals with low intrinsic reproductive rates.
B) edge-adapted species.
C) most organisms that live in the oceans.
D) terrestrial organisms more than aquatic organisms.
E) animals that occupy a broad ecological niche.
19) How might the extinction of some Pacific Island bats called "flying foxes" threaten the survival of over 75% of the tree species in those islands? 19) ______
A) The bats consume the fruit including the seeds that would disrupt the trees' reproductive cycle.
B) The bats roost in the trees and fertilize soil around the trees with their nitrogen-rich droppings.
C) The bats eat the insects that harm competitor plants.
D) The bats pierce the fruit, which allows the seeds to germinate.
E) The bats pollinate the trees and disperse seeds.
20) The greatest cause of the biodiversity crisis, the one which includes all of the others, is 20) ______
A) global warming.
B) human overpopulation.
C) habitat destruction.
D) pollution.
E) introduced species.
21) Of the following ecosystem types, which have been impacted the most by humans? 21) ______
A) wetland and riparian
B) open and benthic ocean
C) tundra and arctic
D) taiga and second-growth forests
E) desert and high alpine
22) The introduction of the brown tree snake in the 1940s to the island of Guam has resulted in 22) ______
A) a good lesson in biological control.
B) a new species of hybrids from crossbreeding with a native snake species.
C) the extirpation of many of the island's bird and reptile species.
D) its failure to compete with native species and its quick elimination from the island.
E) eradication of non-native rats and other undesirable/pest species.
23) Which of the following examples poses the greatest potential threat to biodiversity? 23) ______
A) releasing sterilized rainbow trout to boost the sport fishing of a river system that contains native brook trout
B) allowing previously used farmland to go fallow and begin to fill in with weeds and then shrubs and saplings
C) replanting, after a clear cut, a monoculture of Douglas fir trees on land that consisted of old-growth Douglas fir, western cedar, and western hemlock
D) trapping and relocating large predators, such as mountain lions, that pose a threat as they move into areas of relatively dense human populations
E) importing an Asian insect into the United States to control a weed that competes with staple crops
24) Which of the following is a type of research in which a conservation biologist would be involved? 24) ______
A) studying species diversity and interaction in the Florida Everglades, past and present
B) reestablishing whooping cranes in their former breeding grounds in North Dakota
C) studying population ecology of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park
D) determining the effect of protection programs on the recovery of the North Atlantic cod fishery
E) determining the effects of hunting white-tailed deer in Vermont
25) Which of the following conditions is the most likely indicator of a population in an extinction vortex? 25) ______
A) The species in question is found only in small pockets of its former range.
B) The population is geographically divided into smaller populations.
C) The effective population size of the species falls below 500.
D) The population is no longer connected by corridors.
E) Genetic measurements indicate a loss of genetic variation over time.
26) According to the small-population approach, what would be the best strategy for saving a population that is in an extinction vortex? 26) ______
A) introducing individuals from other populations to increase genetic variation
B) determining the minimum viable population size by taking into account the effective population size
C) reducing the population size of its predators and competitors
D) establishing a nature reserve to protect its habitat
E) determining and remedying the cause of its decline
27) Review the formula for effective population size. Imagine a population of 1,000 small rodents. Of these, 300 are breeding females, 300 are breeding males, and 400 are nonbreeding juveniles. What is the effective population size? 27) ______
A) 1,200 B) 600 C) 300 D) 1,000 E) 400
28) If the sex ratio in a population is significantly different from 50:50, then which of the following will always be true? 28) ______
A) The genetic variation in the population will increase over time.
B) The genetic variation in the population will decrease over time.
C) The effective population size will be greater than the actual population size.
D) The population will enter the extinction vortex.
E) The effective population size will be less than the actual population size.
29) Which of the following life history traits can potentially influence effective population size (Ne)? 29) ______
A) family and population size
B) gene flow between geographically separated populations
C) genetic relatedness among individuals in a population
D) maturation age
E) All of the options are correct.
30) Modern conservation biology increasingly aims at 30) ______
A) lobbying for strict enforcement of the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
B) sustaining biodiversity of entire ecosystems and communities.
C) saving as much habitat as possible from development and exploitation.
D) maintaining genetic diversity in all species.
E) protecting federally listed endangered species.
31) The word triage originated during World War I and was first used by French doctors in prioritizing patients based on the severity of their wounds, because there were more wounded soldiers in need of urgent care than there were resources to treat them. Conservation biologists have to make similar determinations with degraded ecosystems. Which of the following is the most important consideration when it comes to managing for maintenance of biodiversity? 31) ______
A) maintaining optimum size of all populations in the ecosystem
B) identifying large, high-profile vertebrates first, because steps to saving them would be most recognized by the public
C) replanting suitable habitat for fauna
D) assessing the economic costs and the gains for society
E) determining which species is most important for conserving biodiversity as a whole
32) Which of the following species was driven to extinction by overexploitation by hunters/fishermen? 32) ______
A) American bison
B) North American bluefin tuna
C) flying foxes
D) the great auk
E) African elephant
33) The primary difference between the small-population approach (S-PA) and the declining-population approach (D-PA) to biodiversity recovery is 33) ______
A) S-PA is interested in bolstering the genetic diversity of a threatened population rather than the environmental factors that caused the population's decline.
B) S-PA would investigate and eliminate all of the human impacts on the habitat of the species being studied for recovery.
C) S-PA kicks in for conservation biologists when population numbers fall below 500.
D) D-PA would use recently collected population data to calculate an extinction vortex.
E) D-PA would likely involve bringing together individuals from scattered small populations to interbreed in order to promote genetic diversity.
34) The long-term problem with red-cockaded woodpecker habitat intervention in the southwest United States is 34) ______
A) what habitat remains for the red-cockaded woodpecker does not contain trees suitable for nest-cavity construction.
B) the only habitat that can support their recovery is large tracts of mature southern pine forest.
C) the mature pine forests in which they live cannot ever be subjected to forest fire.
D) all of the appropriate red-cockaded woodpecker habitat has already been logged or converted to agricultural land.
E) the social organization of the red-cockaded woodpecker precludes the dispersal of reproductive individuals.
35) Managing southwestern forests specifically for the red-cockaded woodpecker 35) ______
A) involved strict fire suppression measures.
B) caused other species of songbird to decline.
C) contributed to greater abundance and diversity of other forest bird species.
D) involved the creation of fragmented forest habitat.
E) was wholeheartedly supported by the timber extraction industry.
36) Which of the following is true about the current research regarding forest fragmentation? 36) ______
A) Fragmented forests are the goal of conservation biologists who design wildlife preserves.
B) Fragmented forests support a lesser biodiversity because the forested-adapted species leave, and only the edge and open-field species can occupy fragmented forests.
C) The disturbance of timber extraction causes the species diversity to increase because of the new habitats created.
D) Harvesting timber that results in forest fragmentation results in less soil erosion.
E) Fragmented forests support a greater biodiversity because they result in the combination of forest-edge species and forest-interior species.
37) Relatively small geographic areas with high concentrations of endemic species and a large number of endangered and threatened species are known as 37) ______
A) bottlenecks.
B) critical communities.
C) endemic metapopulations.
D) endemic sinks.
E) biodiversity hot spots.
38) How is habitat fragmentation related to biodiversity loss? 38) ______
A) In fragmented habitats, more soil erosion takes place.
B) Populations of organisms in fragments are smaller and, thus, more susceptible to extinction.
C) Animals are forced out of smaller habitat fragments.
D) Less carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants in fragmented habitats.
E) Fragments generate silt that negatively affects sensitive river and stream organisms.
39) Cowbirds utilize fragmented forests effectively by 39) ______
A) feeding on the fruits of shrubs that tend to grow at the forest/open-field interface.
B) roosting in forest trees, and nesting in grassy fields.
C) parasitizing the nests of forest birds, and feeding on open-field insects.
D) using forest cover to escape from predators in their normal grassland habitat.
E) outcompeting other songbird species in fragmented communities.
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