Deck 38: Conservation Biology

Question 1

About one- third of all animal and plant species are concentrated on of Earth's land.

A)10%
B)5%
C)1.5%
D)20%

Answer 1

C

Question 2

You spray your lawn with a pesticide.The concentration of the pesticide in the tissues of the grass on your lawn is 10- 6 parts per million (ppm).Grasshoppers eat the grass and are in turn eaten by rats,which are then eaten by owls.At each successive trophic level,the concentration of pesticides increases.The term for this process is

A)biological extirpation.
B)trophic concentration.
C)biological magnification.
D)bioconcentration.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

One result of Costa Rica's commitment to conservation is that

A)both protected park areas and the buffer zones around them have suffered only negligible deforestation.
B)destructive practices such as massive logging and large scale single- crop agriculture have been nearly eliminated.
C)about 95% of the country's land is protected in some way.
D)ecotourism generates many jobs and brings in a significant fraction of the country's revenue.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Yukon to Yellowstone Initiative is a plan to

A)connect parks in the United States and Canada with protected corridors where wildlife can travel safely.
B)connect all of the national parks in the United States.
C)create a giant,fenced,private land area between the national parks in the United States to create a protected zone for wildlife.
D)connect all of the national parks in the western United States.

Question 5

Small areas that are home to a large number of threatened species and an exceptional concentration of species found nowhere else on Earth are called

A)biodiversity hot spots.
B)endemic environments.
C)biologically magnified.
D)exotic hot spots.

Question 6

Using living organisms to clean up polluted ecosystems is known as

A)biological demagnification.
B)PVA.
C)landscaping.
D)bioremediation.

Question 7

Scientists worry that global warming will result in the oceans

A)becoming more basic.
B)becoming more acidic.
C)containing less dissolved oxygen.
D)containing less dissolved carbon dioxide.

Question 8

Currently,the single greatest threat to biodiversity is

A)global warming.
B)the introduction of exotic species.
C)habitat destruction due to humans.
D)overexploitation of populations for food.

Question 9

Habitats with many edges

A)result in a significant increase in diversity.
B)are the result of natural disasters.
C)favor animals that prefer large,open ranges.
D)often result from human activities.

Question 10

Global warming is the result of

A)pollution.
B)rising concentration of greenhouse gases.
C)rises in ocean levels.
D)increased solar activity.

Question 11

According to this graph of changes in Earth's atmosphere,which of the following took place between 1800 and 2000?

A)Carbon dioxide levels increased from 950 ppb to 1,800 ppb.
B)Carbon dioxide levels increased from 290 ppm to 380 ppm.
C)Methane levels increased from 270 ppm to almost 2,000 ppm.
D)Nitrous oxide levels increased from 270 ppb to 390 ppb.

Question 12

Captive breeding

A)can work for animals,but is generally not used for endangered plants.
B)has allowed for the re- introduction of many species to areas from which they had disappeared.
C)has advanced to the point where biologists believe it can be used to save most endangered species.
D)is the main conservation technique used to try to save endangered species from extinction.

Question 13

A regional assemblage of interacting ecosystems is a

A)hot spot.
B)biome.
C)landscape.
D)PVA.

Question 14

Greenhouse gases include

A)carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
B)carbon dioxide and methane.
C)nitrous oxide and oxygen.
D)nitrogen and oxygen.

Question 15

One way in which populations and species have been responding to climate change is by

A)changing their coat color.
B)changing their metabolism.
C)evolving a flexible mode of reproduction.
D)shifting their distribution.

Question 16

DDT and mercury

A)accumulate in the tissues of organisms.
B)deplete the ozone layer.
C)contribute to acid precipitation.
D)were once used as an energy source.

Question 17

Which of the following is not an observed effect of global warming on organisms?

A)Some species of birds and frogs now begin their breeding seasons later in the year.
B)Many butterfly populations have shifted their ranges to the north.
C)Many polar bears show signs of starvation as their hunting grounds melt away.
D)Corals "bleach" when increased water temperatures cause them to expel their symbiotic algae.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about movement corridors is true?

A)Movement corridors can promote inbreeding in declining populations.
B)Movement corridors can prevent the spread of disease.
C)Movement corridors are detrimental to species that migrate between habitats seasonally.
D)Movement corridors can connect otherwise isolated habitat patches.

Question 19

The introduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1991 resulted in

A)the death of all of the wolves,likely due to an insufficient amount of available prey.
B)a general decline in overall habitat as death spread like wildfire.
C)the migration of most of these wolves out of the park and back to Canada.
D)ecological changes involving at least 25 species.

Question 20

CO2 in the atmosphere is absorbed by _ _ and converted into biomass.

A)the ozone layer
B)large land masses
C)other atmosphere gases
D)photosynthetic organisms

Question 21

The ability to change phenotype in response to local environmental conditions is called

A)alteration of generations.
B)genetic drift.
C)phenotypic plasticity.
D)mutation.

Question 22

Some populations,especially those with high genetic variability and short life spans,may avoid extinction as the climate changes through

A)distribution of populations.
B)genetic shift.
C)feedback inhibition.
D)evolutionary adaptation.

Question 23

The primary goal of conservation biology is to

A)integrate human culture back into nature.
B)estimate the total number of species that exist.
C)maximize the land set aside for wildlife.
D)counter the loss of biodiversity.

Question 24

You arrive back in the United States after having visited a foreign country located on another continent.The customs agent stops the person in front of you and confiscates the fruit basket this person is bringing home.Being the knowledgeable person you are,you calmly explain to your enraged fellow traveler that the reason for the detainment is that the fruit basket may be

A)contaminated with CFCs that will damage the ozone layer above North America.
B)carrying an exotic species that could damage North American ecosystems.
C)contaminated with sufficient DDT to cause serious harm to anyone who eats the fruit.
D)carrying endangered fruit.

Question 25

Sustainable development

A)will require many people to contribute financially.
B)will require global,multinational cooperation.
C)will speed up evolution.
D)will require making difficult decisions regarding travel to other planets.

Question 26

The greatest challenge facing the zoned reserve systems of Costa Rica is

A)soil erosion.
B)the growing human population.
C)high predation by jaguars.
D)forest fires.

Question 27

Movement corridors

A)reduce dispersal.
B)can be harmful because they allow for the spread of disease.
C)increase inbreeding.
D)can be harmful because they allow for gene flow.

Question 28

Most biodiversity hot spots are found in regions.

A)western
B)tundra
C)temperate
D)tropical

Question 29

Protecting the endangered black- footed ferret from extinction involved

A)vaccinating the remaining population against sylvatic plague.
B)collecting individuals from multiple small populations and combining them into a single large population.
C)providing food during harsh winters.
D)captive breeding and reintroduction.

Question 30

To decrease pollution from sulfur,your local power plant built very tall smokestacks.The ultimate consequence of this would most likely be

A)to create an environmental problem at a distance from the power plant.
B)biological magnification.
C)a decrease in the pH of local lakes.
D)to dilute the sulfur pollutants in the atmosphere and thus reduce their effects on the environment.

Question 31

The aspect of conservation ecology concerned with returning degraded ecosystems (as nearly as possible)to their natural state is

A)restoration ecology.
B)bioremediation.
C)landscape ecology.
D)sustainable development.

Question 32

Approximately living species have been named and described.

A)1.8 million
B)30 million
C)10 million
D)750,000

Question 33

Average global temperature has risen over the past 100 years.

A)3°C
B)10°C
C)0.8°C
D)5°C

Question 34

Which of the following is an invasive species?

A)brown tree snake in Guam
B)carrier pigeon in the continental United States
C)mallard duck in the western United States
D)elephant in India

Question 35

Biodiversity considers

A)the relationships of individuals to a food chain.
B)the genetic diversity within and between populations of a species.
C)commensal relationships between species.
D)the fate of water in the ecosystem.

Question 36

The Kissimmee River Project is intended to

A)restrict ecotourism and other recreational usage in the impacted region.
B)increase biodiversity of the region.
C)provide areas for homes and businesses.
D)drain natural wetlands in the central Florida region.

Question 37

Which of the following is a likely consequence of the thinning of the ozone layer?

A)increases in skin cancer
B)global warming
C)increases in escape of heat from Earth
D)decreases in flying insect populations

Question 38

The three greatest current threats to biodiversity,in order starting with the greatest,are

A)habitat loss,invasive species,and overharvesting.
B)habitat loss,overharvesting,and invasive species.
C)invasive species,overharvesting,and habitat loss.
D)invasive species,habitat loss,and overharvesting.

Question 39

Species found in only one place on Earth are called species.

A)endemic
B)hot spot
C)exotic
D)keystone

Question 40

If wolves were now removed from Yellowstone National Park,we would expect that

A)elk populations would increase.
B)vegetation would increase,providing shelter for smaller animals.
C)deer populations would decrease.
D)the vegetation would remain unchanged.

Question 41

The Kissimmee River Project is an

A)attempt to restore the natural wetlands associated with the Kissimmee River.
B)effort to join two previously unconnected lakes to permit better drainage.
C)example of large- scale bioremediation to clean up a mercury spill.
D)example of a dam that interrupted the breeding of salmon and other species.

Question 42

The current rate of extinction may be as much as times higher than at any other time in the past 100,000 years.

A)100
B)10
C)10,000
D)1,000

Question 43

According to this figure,which organisms have the highest concentration of PCBs,and why?

A)herring gulls,because they are at the bottom of the food chain
B)smelt,because they are in the middle of the food chain
C)herring gulls,because they are at the top of the food chain
D)phytoplankton,because they are at the bottom of the food chain