Deck 21: Island Biogeography

Question 1

One of the world's biggest volcanic explosions occurred in 1883 on the island of Krakatau in Indonesia. The much reduced island that remained was called

A) Panuang
B) Sertung
C) Rakata
D) Anak Krakatau
E) Lang

Answer 1

Rakata

Question 2

In the theory of island biogeography the immigration curve is curved because

A) As later species arrive, competition increases
B) More mobile species arrive more quickly than other species
C) As later species arrive, competition decreases
D) Early arriving species tend to be K-selected
E) Plants arrive first, followed by herbivores and carnivores

Answer 2

More mobile species arrive more quickly than other species

Question 3

Based on their powers of dispersal, which taxa would have the largest z value, i.e. steepest slope, in plots of species richness and island size in the Caribbean?

A) Birds
B) Bats
C) Lizards
D) Butterflies

Answer 3

Lizards

Question 4

If c=5, A=1000 and z=0.5, what is S?

A) 31.6
B) 158
C) 500
D) 2500
E) 70.7

Question 5

In island biogeography theory, the constant c can be thought of as

A) Area
B) Species evenness
C) The number of species per unit area
D) The slope of the relationship between species richness and area
E) Species richness

Question 6

If A=10,000, z=0.2 and c=3 and area is reduced by 90%, how many species are lost?

A) 6.31
B) 18.9
C) 11.9
D) 6000
E) 7

Question 7

Species turnover on islands is generally observed to be

A) Low
B) Medium
C) High
D) Zero

Question 8

Simberloff and Wilson carried out a famous experiment to study the recolonization by arthropods of small mangrove islands after the islands were fumigated. One of their findings was

A) Species richness remained unchanged over time
B) Recolonization was identical on all islands regardless of size
C) Species turnover was low following recolonization
D) All islands had high diversity relative to the mainland
E) Species turnover was high following recolonization

Question 9

According to the theory of island biogeography, which type of park would contain more species?

A) Spaced out vs. close together
B) Fragmented vs. whole
C) Small vs. large
D) Clustered vs. linear
E) Transition zone vs. buffer area

Question 10

In many parks the area adjacent to the non-park land is known as the

A) Buffer area
B) Transition zone
C) Core area
D) Landscape
E) Adjacent area

Question 11

What shape of park is preferable for minimizing edge effects?

A) Square
B) Circular
C) Linear
D) Fragmented
E) Oval

Question 12

Some areas such a mountain tops, or even individual trees, may act as habitat islands.

Question 13

In the Great Basin region of the US, the species-area relationship for resident boreal birds of mountain tops has a steeper slope than that for boreal mammals.

Question 14

Tropical islands generally have higher c values than temperate islands.

Question 15

Variations in z values generally affect species-area relationships more than variations in c values.

Question 16

In the relationship that relates species richness to island size, S increases as log C decreases.

Question 17

The number of bird species on mountain tops near the Andes in South America, increases as the mountains get closer to the Andes.

Question 18

Despite the theory of island biogeography many empirical studies have shown that multiple small sites contain more species than one large site.

Question 19

Landscape ecologists have shown that areas linked by movement corridors have greater species richness than unconnected areas.

Question 20

More money has led to greater recovery of black rhinoceros numbers in African parks.