Deck 55: Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

Question 1

Why has Atlantic cod evolved to mature at a younger age and smaller size?

A) DNA damage from radiation released accidentally from nuclear power plants
B) unknown causes
C) food competition from other predatory fish
D) intraspecies competition
E) overexploitation by fishing

Answer 1

E

Question 2

How does habitat fragmentation affect biodiversity?

A) As long as the fragments are of good quality habitat, biodiversity will not be affected.
B) Habitat fragmentation increases biodiversity because it reduces entry of exotic species.
C) Habitat fragmentation is a threat to biodiversity because small habitat patches sustain only small populations.
D) Habitat fragmentation increases biodiversity because adaptation to local conditions stimulates evolution.
E) Habitat fragmentation connects terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which molecule dissolves in water vapor and falls as acid precipitation?

A) sulfuric acid
B) ozone
C) mercury
D) sulfur dioxide
E) carbonic acid

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which area of the United States experiences rainfall with the lowest pH?

A) southwest
B) southeast
C) northeast
D) Midwest
E) northwest

Question 5

The ____ and ____ of rivers are key determinants of their physical habitats.

A) flow rate; volume
B) size; shape
C) flow rate; temperature
D) location; volume
E) biodiversity; species richness

Question 6

Where in the world does most deforestation occur?

A) the taiga in Siberia
B) the boreal forest in Canada
C) the tropical rainforest in Africa
D) the tropical rainforest in South America
E) the temperate rainforest in North America

Question 7

Biologists have recently been interested in Miss Waldron's red colobus monkey ( Procolobus badius waldroni ) because it is ____.

A) increasing in numbers
B) a pest to farmers
C) thought to be extinct
D) capable of carrying HIV
E) capable of carrying the Ebola virus

Question 8

How does reduced river connectivity affect aquatic species?

A) It helps nonnative species establish in certain ecosystems.
B) It prevents species from migrating freely.
C) It reduces water temperature.
D) It increases river volume.
E) It assists species in long migrations.

Question 9

When subtropical forest is cleared, which biome is most likely to replace it?

A) grassland suitable for grazing
B) cropland ideal for agriculture
C) young forest with the same species
D) desert with poor, eroded soil
E) chaparral with grass and low bushes

Question 10

Overexploitation occurs as a result of ____.

A) harvesting of predators
B) transformation of an ecosystem to a desert
C) soil nutrient loss
D) the combined outcome of desertification and global warming
E) excessive harvesting of an animal or plant species

Question 11

Which term refers to the concentration of salts in soil?

A) alinization
B) desertification
C) erosion
D) deforestation
E) overexploitation

Question 12

Disturbance and exposure at borders of habitat fragments are collectively termed ____.

A) edge effects
B) fragmentation effects
C) anthropogenic disturbances
D) reduced perimeter diversity
E) boundary decline

Question 13

In Gibson's experiment with small mammal populations in the tropical forest, ____.

A) most species disappeared from small islands within the first 5-7 years after fragmentation
B) all species disappeared from small islands within the first 5-7 years after fragmentation
C) populations increased 25 years after fragmentation
D) most species disappeared from small islands, but quickly recolonized after 5-7 years
E) fragmentation had no effect on small mammal species

Question 14

Forest burning contributes nearly ____ % of all greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 20
D) 30
E) 50

Question 15

What is the significance of genetic variation?

A) It influences population interactions.
B) It interacts within the biosphere.
C) It is the raw material for sexual reproduction.
D) It is the most fundamental level of species classification.
E) It is the raw material for adaptation, speciation, and evolution.

Question 16

Populations that occupy ____ inevitably experience low carrying capacities.

A) ecotones
B) endangered habitats
C) small habitat patches
D) large habitat patches
E) small ecological niches

Question 17

Which factor disrupts the life histories of aquatic species?

A) increased sedimentation
B) reduced connectivity in river systems
C) introduction of nonnative species
D) disruption of river flow patterns
E) low river volume

Question 18

What were the conclusions of Gibson's experiments with small mammal populations?

A) Fragmentation increases biodiversity.
B) Fragmentation leads to extinction of native populations.
C) Fragmentation does not affect small mammal populations.
D) Fragmentation has the same effect on large and small mammal populations.
E) Fragmentation has more impact in aquatic than in terrestrial habitats.

Question 19

Which human activity is an example of hydrologic alteration?

A) overfishing
B) small-scale diversion of water for agriculture
C) damming of rivers
D) digging wells
E) desalination

Question 20

Why have so few primates gone extinct compared to other species, such as mussels or birds?

A) Primates have large brains.
B) Primates are not killed for food or other human uses.
C) Primates live in stable environments.
D) Primates are among the most closely monitored and protected species.
E) Primates are highly mobile.

Question 21

Which environment would be most likely to harbor a biodiversity hotspot?

A) tropical island
B) temperate grassland
C) temperate deciduous forest
D) desert
E) savanna

Question 22

Which airborne pollutant contributes to global warming?

A) carbon dioxide
B) ozone
C) mercury
D) sulfur dioxide
E) carbonic acid

Question 23

What is an invasive species?

A) a nonnative species that often outcompetes native species, leading to their extinction
B) a native species that evolves a new trait and occupies more ecological niches
C) a nonnative species that enriches the species diversity of a new ecosystem
D) a nonnative species that often outcompetes native species, leading to evolution
E) a nonnative species that eventually becomes extinct

Question 24

Photosynthetic organisms provide ____ to ecosystems.

A) provisioning services
B) regulating services
C) nutrient cycling
D) hybridization
E) support services

Question 25

Taxol, a drug treatment for breast and ovarian cancer, was isolated from ____.

A) frog skin
B) vascular cambium of a tree
C) roots of a tree
D) insects
E) primates

Question 26

Biodiversity hotspots are defined as areas where biodiversity is both ____ and ____.

A) concentrated; endangered
B) researched; protected
C) low; increasing
D) overexploited; studied
E) low; declining

Question 27

Background extinction rates eliminate approximately ____ species ____.

A) 7-8; per 100 years
B) 7-8; per 1000 years
C) 7-8; per year
D) 100; per year
E) 100; per 1000 years

Question 28

Fungi and soil microorganisms provide ____ to ecosystems.

A) provisioning services
B) regulating services
C) carbon sequestration
D) hybridization
E) support services

Question 29

The European starling and the kudzu vine are examples of ____.

A) native species
B) pollution
C) pathogenic viruses
D) fungi
E) invasive species

Question 30

Which benefit, derived from biodiversity, would be categorized as an ecosystem service?

A) the anticancer drug Taxol, derived from the yew tree
B) plants and fruits that are edible by humans
C) cotton and other useful plant-derived fibers
D) decomposition of wastes
E) wild organisms as a source of genes for genetic engineering

Question 31

The greatest rate of extinction of all time is/was probably caused by ____.

A) an ice age
B) unknown reasons
C) formation of Pangea
D) human activity
E) asteroid impact

Question 32

The oldest known Bd infections in the world dated to ____.

A) 1894 in Brazil
B) 1894 in Korea
C) 1900 in Illinois
D) 1911 in Korea
E) 1900 in Brazil

Question 33

Provisioning services ____.

A) are critical functions that preserve and recycle resources upon which ecosystems depend
B) transfer CO₂to a nutrient compartment in the biosphere
C) enable populations to function within their food webs
D) describe the availability of plants, animals, and other materials useful to all organisms
E) involves planting crops for use by many organisms

Question 34

The administration of the drug diclofenac to livestock inadvertently poisoned ____ and led to an increase in ____ cases.

A) cattle; hoof and mouth
B) vultures; rabies
C) children; epilepsy
D) coyotes; hemolytic E. coli
E) cattle egrets; avian flu

Question 35

The communities established under pure stands of eastern hemlock will likely become extinct because of ____.

A) feeding on the trees by the wooly adelgid
B) the Bd infection of hemlock trees
C) pathogenic viruses attacking these populations
D) pathogenic fungi attacking hemlock trees
E) invasive species exploiting their niche

Question 36

Photosynthetic organisms are essential for limiting the damage done by global warming because they ____.

A) move carbon from the atmosphere to living organisms
B) move carbon from the soil to the atmosphere
C) move carbon from the atmosphere to the soil
D) produce oxygen
E) sequester carbon in geologic sediments

Question 37

Worldwide declines in the population size of frogs have recently been linked to ____.

A) overharvesting
B) a fungus
C) dams
D) decreases in global temperatures
E) increases in precipitation

Question 38

Scientists have found that the Bd infection ____.

A) affects amphibians and fish
B) enhances lymphocyte production
C) may travel from low elevation to high elevation habitats
D) may travel in streams that flow from high elevation to low elevation habitats
E) cannot infect amphibians that never enter standing water

Question 39

What is the main factor contributing to the current human-caused mass extinction?

A) increased population growth
B) burning of fossil fuels
C) the industrial revolution
D) global-warming
E) decreased population growth

Question 40

Teosinte, a wild relative of corn, was crossed with domestic corn in an attempt to produce a ____ variety.

A) herbicide resistant
B) pest resistant
C) high lysine
D) perennial
E) higher yielding

Question 41

Biologists believe that whooping cranes suffer from a high rate of developmental deformities of the spine and trachea because of ____.

A) biological magnification of DDT
B) exposure to hormone-mimicking pollutants from plastics
C) a population bottleneck and loss of genetic variability
D) conservation biologists saving chicks that would have died at hatching
E) exposure to PCBs used as insulators in electronics

Question 42

More than 40% of the 595 sites of imminent extinction are ____.

A) completely protected
B) already developed
C) unprotected
D) of large size
E) of small size

Question 43

A group of neighboring populations that exchange individuals is defined as a ____.

A) metapopulation
B) megapopulation
C) community
D) source population
E) sink population

Question 44

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London estimate that more than ____ percent of living species have not yet been discovered.

A) 11
B) 27
C) 32
D) 56
E) 98

Question 45

Why is the COI gene sequence unsuitable as a DNA barcode for plants?

A) The gene has a much faster evolution rate in plants.
B) The gene has a much slower evolution rate in plants.
C) There are too many plant species.
D) There are not enough plant species.
E) It is too difficult to extract plant DNA.

Question 46

The number of species a patch will support depends on its ____ and ____.

A) size; species richness
B) size; habitat
C) area; species richness
D) size; proximity to larger patches
E) habitat; proximity to larger patches

Question 47

Which data were used in the population viability analysis conducted for the yellow-bellied glider?

A) age distributions and survival probabilities
B) litter sizes and sex ratios
C) home ranges and litter sizes
D) sex ratios, age distributions, and litter sizes
E) litter sizes, sex ratios, lifespan, home range sizes, survival probabilities, and age distributions

Question 48

Scientists have found that extinction rates among ____ are accelerating rapidly.

A) endangered species
B) trigger species
C) bird species
D) amphibian species
E) plant species

Question 49

Sea otter populations were reduced by overhunting, allowing an overgrowth of one of their prey animals, the ____, which subsequently consumed and decimated ____.populations.

A) crabs; shrimp
B) abalone; algae
C) sea urchin; kelp
D) harbor seals; fish
E) crab; kelp

Question 50

The smallest population that fits specifications of a conservation plan is a(n) ____.

A) target population
B) endangered population
C) minimum viable population size
D) an entire ecosystem
E) threatened species

Question 51

A DNA barcode is being developed for use in conservation biology based on ____.

A) mitochondrial genes in plants
B) chloroplast genes in plants
C) nuclear genes in animals
D) mitochondrial genes in animals
E) bacterial genes

Question 52

Conservation biologists conduct population viability analyses to determine ____.

A) whether an environment is too badly degraded to support a species
B) how large a population must be to ensure its long-term survival
C) likely source populations
D) likely sink populations
E) the annual reproduction rate of a population

Question 53

Which field of ecology analyzes how large-scale ecological factors influence local populations and communities?

A) conservation ecology
B) mixed-use conservation
C) alpha-diversity
D) landscape ecology
E) community ecology

Question 54

The global decline and extinction of insects affects which organisms?

A) wild plants
B) agricultural crops
C) mammals
D) amphibians, reptiles, and birds
E) wild plants and agricultural crops, amphibians, reptiles, and birds

Question 55

Which habitat patch sustains more species?

A) small
B) large
C) intact
D) separated
E) threatened

Question 56

Which group includes the highest proportion of critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable species?

A) cone snails
B) conifers
C) freshwater shrimps
D) reef-forming corals
E) cycads

Question 57

Flying insect biomass in Germany, according to Hallman and colleagues, declined ____ between 1989 and 2016.

A) 22%
B) about 50%
C) 63%
D) 76%
E) nearly 100%

Question 58

According to Myers, a biodiversity hot spot must harbor at least ____.

A) 20 predator species
B) 100 endemic plant species
C) 15 extinct species
D) 1500 endemic plant species
E) 100 endangered species

Question 59

Conservation efforts using ____ are being used to protect the critically endangered Florida panther by allowing the animals to move safely between fragmented conservation areas.

A) landscape corridors
B) ecotourism
C) beta-diversity
D) population viability analyses
E) introduction of nonnative prey species

Question 60

Which statement best summarizes the results of the experiment by Damschen and her colleagues on the effect of landscape corridors on species richness?

A) Habitat patches with landscape corridors are at higher risk of encroachment by exotic species than are isolated habitat patches.
B) Over time, the number of native species harbored by habitat patches with landscape corridors was increasingly greater than in isolated habitat patches.
C) The number of both native and exotic species increased over time in habitat patches that were connected by landscape corridors.
D) The number of native species increased over time in isolated habitat patches but not in those connected by corridors.
E) The number of exotic and native species decreased in patches connected by landscape corridors.

Question 61

Which concept reflects the increasing numbers of species present in an area that includes a wide variety of habitats, vegetation types, and small-scale environments?

A) landscape ecology
B) the species-area relationship
C) conservation biology
D) alpha-diversity
E) beta-diversity

Question 64

In ____, visitors pay a fee to visit a natural preserve.

A) ecotourism
B) mixed-use conservation
C) ecosystem valuation
D) restoration
E) preservation

Question 65

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is an example of ____.

A) conservation through preservation, with people completely excluded
B) conservation through preservation, with people allowed only as temporary visitors
C) mixed use conservation, with some human residents and livestock grazing
D) mixed use conservation, with no human residents and limited livestock grazing
E) conservation through restoration, with efforts to remove contaminants underway

Question 66

By one estimation, the gross global ecosystem valuation is ____.

A) equivalent to the total carbon dioxide processed by all ecosystems
B) equivalent to the total amount of carbon fixed
C) equivalent to the value of all goods produced on Earth
D) greater than the value of all goods produced on Earth
E) less than the value of all goods produced on Earth

Question 67

Which event accounts for 20% of the greenhouse gases recorded annually?

A) deforestation of dry tropical forests
B) deforestation of moist tropical forests
C) burning of fossil fuels
D) burning of coal
E) urbanization

Question 68

Why did local residents in the Pacific Northwest remain hostile to conservation efforts?

A) When the northern spotted owl was listed as endangered, logging workers lost jobs.
B) The northern spotted owl has not been listed as endangered.
C) When the northern spotted owl was listed as endangered, the logging industry experienced a boom.
D) Conservation efforts to protect trees from logging have been unsuccessful.
E) Conservation efforts focus on the local population and take their jobs into consideration.

Question 70

Summarize the human social elements necessary to address when designing a conservation plan.

Question 71

The introduction of Kudzu was inadvertent.

Question 72

Conservation through restoration involves ____.

A) completely excluding people
B) people allowed only as temporary visitors
C) some human residents and livestock grazing
D) limited livestock grazing
E) efforts to remove contaminants and other unnatural obstructions

Question 73

What is a population viability analysis (PVA), and what predictions does it allow population biologists to make?

Question 74

Conservation biology is a ____.

A) mature science
B) young science
C) science that addresses speciation rates
D) science practiced by environmentalists
E) declining science

Question 75

Ecotourism measures ecosystem services such as carbon dioxide processing or water retention and purification.

Question 76

The study of how large-scale ecological factors influence local populations and communities is specifically defined as conservation biology.

Question 77

The success of Chitwan National Park in Nepal is attributed primarily to ____.

A) ecotourism
B) exclusion of local residents
C) ecosystem valuation
D) benefits provided to local residents
E) income derived through hunting

Question 78

Briefly describe some of the pros and cons of using ecotourism to generate income from a natural area.

Question 79

A DNA barcode system uses a nuclear gene that varies greatly between species.

Question 80

An alternative to species-based conservation focuses on the preservation of ____.

A) small species
B) large species
C) plant species only
D) insect species only
E) intact habitats