Biology: The Dynamic Science

Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan

Chapter 55

Biodiversity and Conservation Biology - all with Video Answers

Educators

Chapter Questions

Problem 1

The greatest extinction in the history of life on Earth:
a. occurred at the end of the Permian period.
b occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period.
c. occurred at the end of the Ordovician period.
d. occurred at the end of the Cambrian era.
e. may be occurring now.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 2

Which of the following activities is the most fundamental cause of the worldwide crisis in river ecosystems?
a. overexploitation of predatory fishes
b. damming of rivers
c. pollution from power plants
d. invasion by exotic species
e. deforestation

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 3

Habitat fragmentation has damaged populations of breeding birds in North America because:
a. the remaining habitat patches rarely contain enough food for birds to rear their offspring.
b. the nests of birds in small habitat patches are frequently attacked by predators.
c. pairs of breeding birds cannot easily move from one habitat patch to another.
d. female birds cannot locate potential mates in small habitat patches.
e. small habitat patches do not have enough edges to provide adequate hiding places.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 4

Deforestation:
a. is a problem only in the tropics.
b. may speed desertification.
c. is slowed by grazing and farming.
d. permanently enriches the soil.
e. leads to the formation of lush grasslands.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 5

Chemical pollutants:
a. can spread rapidly from the places they are released.
b. do not appear to influence global climate change.
c. have contributed to global mass extinctions.
d. rarely affect natural bodies of water.
e. rarely influence animals feeding at higher trophic levels.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 6

Which of the following is most likely to be a biodiversity hotspot?
a. a patch of forest in the middle of North America that is $500 \mathrm{km}$ from the nearest big city
b. a series of uninhabitable sand dunes in the Sahara Desert
c. a botanical garden that houses representatives of 25,000 plant species
d. a tropical island with many endemic species and a growing human population
e. a suburban neighborhood where fields have been converted to backyards and playgrounds

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 7

Population viability analyses allow conservation biologists to:
a. identify the source population from which an individual dispersed to a sink population.
b. determine how large an area must be preserved for the protection of a threatened species.
c. identify whether individuals of a threatened species are reproductively mature.
d. predict the minimum population size of a threatened species that is likely to survive.
e. predict whether a threatened species will use habitat corridors.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 8

Beta-diversity is a measure of:
a. species diversity across community boundaries.
b. the number of species within one community.
c. the number of endemic species found in a particular place.
d. the likelihood that a particular species will become extinct in the next 20 years.
e. the minimum population size needed to conserve an endangered species.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 9

For which of the following species has the use of habitat corridors been proposed as an important conservation tool?
a. sea otters
b. bay checkerspot butterflies
c. Florida panthers
d. whooping cranes
e. Eastern hemlocks

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator

Problem 10

The main goal of restoration ecology is the reestablishment of:
a. natural patterns of water flow.
b. the vitality of a degraded ecosystem.
c. the historical corridors linking forest fragments.
d. the natural barriers to animal movement.
e. ecotourism.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Numerade Educator