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1.

Historically, island species have tended to become extinct faster than species
living on a mainland. Which of the following reasons can be used to explain this
phenomenon?
a. Island species have often evolved in the absence of predators and have no
natural avoidance strategies.
b. Humans have introduced diseases and competitors to islands, which
negatively affects island populations.
c. Island populations are usually smaller than mainland populations.
d. All of the above.
he correct answer is d!
A. Answer a is incorrect. Island species have often evolved in the absence of
predators and cannot defend against human hunters or other introduced predators
such as rats and cats, but this is not the only answer.
he correct answer is d!
". Answer b is incorrect. As humans move around to new areas, they carry germs
and other species with them. hese new diseases can rapidly deplete a susceptible
population. Introduced species can often outcompete native species and drive
their populations to extinction. his, however, is not the only answer.
he correct answer is d!
#. Answer c is incorrect. Island populations are usually smaller than mainland
populations and small populations have a higher extinction rate. his, however, is
not the only correct answer.
he correct answer is d!All of the above.
$. Answer d is correct. All of the preceding factors may play a role in the greater
extinction rate of island species.
Hint% In the past, most extinctions too& place on islands. Island species are often
unable to defend against predators, have no immunity to introduced diseases, cannot
outcompete introduced species, and have smaller population si'es. All of these
factors contribute to a higher probability of extinction.
(. An endemic species is!
a. one found in many different geographic areas
b. one found naturally in )ust one geographic area
c. one found only on islands
d. one that has been introduced to a new geographic area
he correct answer is b!
A. Answer a is incorrect. A species that is found in many different geographic areas
is not an endemic species.
he correct answer is b!one found naturally in )ust one geographic area
". Answer b is correct. *pecies that are found in )ust one geographic area are
endemic species.
he correct answer is b!
#. Answer c is incorrect. +any island species are endemic, but there are also
mainland endemic species.
he correct answer is b!
$. Answer d is incorrect. A species that has been introduced to a new geographic
area is an introduced or exotic species.
Hint% An endemic species is one that is found in )ust one geographic area. ,ndemic
species, because of their limited ranges, are more prone to extinction.
-. #onservation hotspots are best described as!
a. areas with large numbers of endemic species that are disappearing rapidly
b. areas where people are particularly active supporters of biological
diversity
c. islands that are experiencing high rates of extinction
d. areas where native species are being replaced with introduced species
he correct answer is a!areas with large numbers of endemic species that are
disappearing rapidly
A. Answer a is correct. Hotspots are recogni'ed as areas with large numbers of
endemic species that are rapidly being lost.
he correct answer is a!
". Answer b is incorrect. Hotspots are recogni'ed as areas with large numbers of
endemic species that are rapidly being lost.
he correct answer is a!
#. Answer c is incorrect. *ome hotspots are islands. however, many mainland areas
are also conservation hotspots.
he correct answer is a!
$. Answer d is incorrect. Introduced species can contribute to extinction of
endemics but it is not the only factor that results in production of a hotspot.
Hint% Hotspots are areas with a large number of endemic species that are
disappearing rapidly. #onservation biologists often focus their efforts on these
conservation hotspots.
/. "iodiversity hotspots!
a. cover 1./0 of the world1s land surface but are home to -20 of extant
terrestrial vertebrate species
b. cover -20 of the world1s land surface but are home to 1./0 of extant
terrestrial vertebrate species
c. are found only on islands
d. are found only in the tropics

he correct answer is a!cover 1./0 of the world1s land surface but are home to -20 of
extant terrestrial vertebrate species
A. Answer a is correct. Hotspots are so named because they contain a
disproportionate diversity of species of organisms, not )ust vertebrates.

he correct answer is a!
". Answer b is incorrect. *uch a level of diversity would be unremar&able.

he correct answer is a!
#. Answer c is incorrect. Hotspots are scattered around the world, including islands
and continents.

he correct answer is a!
$. Answer d is incorrect. Hotspots are not limited to tropical climates, even though
such areas are typically high in diversity. What is uni3ue about hotspots is that
their diversity and levels of endemism are unusually high and not limited to areas
with typically high diversity 4the tropics5.

2. he ability of an intact ecosystem, such as a wetland, to buffer against flooding
and filter pollutants from water is a4n5 66666666 value of biodiversity.
a. direct economic
b. indirect economic
c. ethical
d. aesthetic
he correct answer is b!
A. Answer a is incorrect. $irect economic benefits of biodiversity include such
species1 value as food, medicine, clothing, and fuel.
he correct answer is b!indirect economic
". Answer b is correct. Indirect economic benefits of biodiversity include an intact
ecosystem1s ability to buffer against environmental damage.
he correct answer is b!
#. Answer c is incorrect. ,thical arguments for the preservation of biodiversity
center on the belief that every species is of value in its own right.
he correct answer is b!
$. Answer d is incorrect. Aesthetic values of biodiversity include the en)oyment
humans receive from experiencing plants and animals.
Hint% Intact ecosystems can provide indirect economic values such as maintaining
flood waters, cleaning water and air, and preserving soils. hese indirect economic
values are often of greater benefit than the direct benefits of exploiting individual
species within an ecosystem.
7. he economic value of indirect ecosystem services!
a. is unli&ely to exceed the economic value derived from uses after
ecosystem conversion
b. has never been carefully determined
c. can greatly exceed the value derived after ecosystem conversion
d. is entirely aesthetic
he correct answer is c!
A. Answer a is incorrect. 8ses after conversion are often limited and provide returns
that are not sustainable or that do not incorporate all the costs of conversion,
including removal of nonrenewable removal of resources and pollution to the
environment.
he correct answer is c!
". Answer b is incorrect. 9ver the last decade both economists and ecologists have
been able to conduct careful studies that estimate the costs and benefits of
ecological conversion.
he correct answer is c!can greatly exceed the value derived after ecosystem conversion
#. Answer c is correct. In fact, in many cases in which it has been studied and when
the full range of costs and benefits are 3uantitatively accounted for, the original
services of the intact habitat are much more valuable than the short:term gains
from conversion.
he correct answer is c!
$. Answer d is incorrect. Aesthetic values are but one component. there are many
more including buffering of potentially damaging environmental change 4such as,
hurricanes5, a source of biological resources 4such as, pharmaceuticals and
agricultural products5.
;. he amphibian decline is best described as!
a. global disappearance of amphibian populations due to the pervasiveness of
local habitat destruction
b. global shrin&age of amphibian populations due to global climate change
c. the unexplained disappearance of golden toads in #osta <ica
d. none of the above
he correct answer is d!
A. Answer a is incorrect. he amphibian decline is not easily attributable to habitat
loss since populations and species are going extinct in many of the most pristine
habitats in the world.
he correct answer is d!
". Answer b is incorrect. Although global climate change has been implicated as a
contributing factor, not all changes in population si'e can be unmista&ably
attributed to changes in temperature, precipitation, or other indicators of climate
change.
he correct answer is d!
#. Answer c is incorrect. =olden toads are )ust one example, though an important
one due to the awareness of a potential problem it helped spar&.
he correct answer is d!none of the above
$. Answer d is correct. he global amphibian decline is attributable to multiple
interacting sources that vary in combination from place to place but which lead to
the same results!shrin&ing population si'e or extinction outright.
>. Habitat fragmentation can negatively affect populations!
a. by restricting gene flow among areas that were previously continuous
b. by increasing the relative amount of edge in suitable habitat patches
c. by creating patches that are too small to support a breeding population
d. all of the above
he correct answer is d!
A. Answer a is correct. Is not the only correct effect of habitat fragmentation. he
relative importance of genetic limitations in any particular case will derive from a
combination of inbreeding effects, drift, and the importance of genetic variation
as a response to environmental changes.
he correct answer is d!
". Answer b is correct. It is not the only correct effect of habitat fragmentation.
,dges can increase access of predators or parasites formerly not having access to
threatened organisms in the interiors of larger patches.
he correct answer is d!
#. Answer c is correct. It is not the only correct effect of habitat fragmentation. If
patches are reduced below a si'e at which individuals can successfully reproduce,
then there will be no recruitment of individuals to offset mortality.
he correct answer is d!all of the above
$. Answer d is correct. All of the preceding answers are correct.
>. A &eystone species is one that!
a. has a higher li&elihood of extinction than a non&eystone species
b. exerts a strong influence on an ecosystem out of proportion to its
abundance
c. causes other species to become extinct
d. has a wea& influence on an ecosystem
he correct answer is b!
A. Answer a is incorrect. ?eystone species do not have a higher li&elihood of
extinction than non&eystone species.
he correct answer is b!exerts a strong influence on an ecosystem out of proportion to
its abundance
A. Answer b is correct. A &eystone species has a strong influence on an ecosystem
and the other species that constitute that ecosystem.
he correct answer is b!
#. Answer c is incorrect. A &eystone species does not cause other species to go
extinct. However, if a &eystone species goes extinct it may lead to the extinction
of other dependent species.
he correct answer is b!
$. Answer d is incorrect. A &eystone species has a strong influence on an
ecosystem, not a wea& influence.
Hint% ?eystone species are species that exert a strong influence on an ecosystem out
of proportion to their abundance. @lying foxes are a &eystone species because
without them many plants are not being pollinated and their seeds are not being
dispersed. his has had a ma)or effect on forest ecosystems in places such as =uam.
A. When populations are drastically reduced in si'e, genetic diversity and
hetero'ygosity!
a. are li&ely to increase, enhancing the probability of extinction
b. are li&ely to decrease, enhancing the probability of extinction
c. are usually not factors that influence the probability of extinction
d. automatically respond in a way that protects populations from future
changes
he correct answer is b!
A. Answer a is incorrect. <emoving individuals at a high rate removes copies of
alleles that may be relatively rare. As the population becomes more and more
homogeneous, the hetero'ygosity of individuals also decreases.
he correct answer is b!are li&ely to decrease, enhancing the probability of extinction
A. Answer b is correct. $ecreased genetic diversity and hetero'ygosity have been
lin&ed to extinctions of species such as the prairie chic&en in the +idwestern
8nited *tates.
he correct answer is b!
#. Answer c is incorrect. =enetic factors and demographic factors are both important
and can interact with one another.
he correct answer is b!
$. Answer d is incorrect. <educing population si'e reduces genetic variation. With
fewer individuals breeding, there is less chance for reassortment of genes and for
new mutations to arise in the population.
1B. A captive:breeding program followed by release to the wild!
a. is very li&ely, all by itself, to save a species threatened by extinction
b. is only li&ely to succeed when genetic variation of wild populations is very
low
c. may be successful when combined with proper regulations and habitat
restoration
d. none of the above
he correct answer is c!
A. Answer a is incorrect. #aptive breeding and release, although successful in some
very important cases 4for example, peregrine falcons and the #alifornia condor5 is
fraught with difficulties including the li&elihood that damage to native habitat
cannot be controlled or reversed and that genetic variation of natural populations
targeted for captive:breeding programs often have very low genetic variation.
he correct answer is c!
". Answer b is incorrect. Cow genetic diversity reduces the probability of sustaining
a sufficient genetic pool to enable response to new environmental challenges.
he correct answer is c!may be successful when combined with proper regulations and
habitat restoration
#. Answer c is correct. #arefully managed plans that address low genetic variation
in breeding stoc&s, habitat restoration, regulations that protect released
individuals, and educate the public have the best chance of success. *uch efforts
are complex, expensive, and only occasionally successful. Devertheless, we have
several examples in which such efforts paid off with very large ecological
dividends.
he correct answer is c!
$. Answer d is incorrect.
11. Dinety:nine percent of all the species that ever existed have gone extinct!
a. serving as evidence that current extinction rates are not higher than normal
b. but most of these losses have occurred in the last /BB years
c. which argues that the world )ust had too many species
d. none of the above
he correct answer is d!
A. Answer a is incorrect. ,xtinction rates, estimated over the last few centuries
appear to be on the rise, especially for some taxa 4for example, birds5. +oreover,
there are very diverse groups 4li&e invertebrates5 are so large it is hard to get good
estimates. +any studies suggest that extinction rates are elevated over historical
and natural levels.
he correct answer is d!
". Answer b is incorrect. he losses have been gradual over the millions of years that
life has existed. Devertheless, humans have been associated with negative effects
on other species, especially large vertebrates.
he correct answer is d!
#. Answer c is incorrect. here is no evidence that species diversity is declining
because there are too many species. here is not ecological theory that suggests
such a limit on species diversity at the global scale.
he correct answer is d!none of the above
$. Answer d is correct.
1(. o effectively address the biodiversity crisis, the protection of individual species
!
a. must be used in concert with a principle of ecosystem management and
restoration
b. is a sufficient management approach that merely needs to be expanded to
more species
c. has no role to play in addressing the biodiversity crisis
d. usually conflicts with the principle of ecosystem management
he correct answer is a!must be used in concert with a principle of ecosystem
management and restoration
A. Answer a is correct. Erotection of individual species 4for example, by the
,ndangered *pecies Act5 still provides tools needed to avert the extinction of
species, but it is no longer the single focus of conservation biologists. As our
appreciation of the complexities of species1 roles in ecological systems grows
with each new study 4consider the examples of &eystone species5 it is clear that
functioning ecosystems need to be the focus of conservation and restoration
regulations and efforts.
he correct answer is a!
A. Answer b is incorrect. Although inade3uate enforcement may thwart progress in
specific protection efforts, protection of individual species does not necessarily
address the issues leading to the threats in the first place.
he correct answer is a!
#. Answer c is incorrect. As seen in the cases of peregrine falcons and #alifornia
condors, targeting individual species can contribute significantly to rescuing them
from extinction.
he correct answer is a!
$. Answer d is incorrect. A comprehensive approach that targets species within the
framewor& of their ecological interactions, such that the interactions are the focus
of conservation and restoration, holds the greatest promise in addressing the
biodiversity crisis. #ase studies of the Fellowstone wolves, habitat corridors, and
other large:scale conservation efforts that restore ecological functions are strong
evidence for the efficacy of such an approach.
#hallenge Guestions
1. If AA0 of the species that ever existed are now extinct, why is there such concern
over the extinction rates over the last several centuries?
Answer!Although it is true that extinction is a natural part of the existence of a species,
several pieces of evidence suggest that current rates of extinction are much elevated over
the natural bac&ground level and the disappearance is associated with human activities
4which many of the most pronounced extinction events in the history of the ,arth were
not5. It is important to appreciate the length of time over which the estimate of AA0 is
made. he history of life on ,arth extends bac& billions of years. #ertainly, clear
patterns of the emergence and extinction of species in the fossil record extend bac& many
hundreds of millions of years. *ince the average time of species1 existence is short
relative to the great expanse of time over which we can estimate the percentage of species
that have disappeared, the perception might be that extinction rates have always been
high, when in fact the high number is driven by the great expanse of time of
measurement. We have very good evidence that modern extinction rates 4over human
history5 are considerably elevated above bac&ground levels. @urthermore, the
circumstances of the extinctions may be very different because they are also associated
with habitat and resource removal. thus potentially limiting the natural processes that
replace extinct species.
(. ,cosystem conversion always has a cost and a benefit. 8sually the benefit flows
to a segment of society 4a business or one group of people, for instance5, but the
costs are borne by all of society. hat is what ma&es decisions about how and
when to convert ecosystems difficult. However, is that a problem uni3ue to
conversion of ecosystems in the way we understand it today 4for example, the
conversion of the mangrove to a shrimp farm5? Are there other examples we can
loo& to for guidance in how to ma&e these decisions?
Answer!he problem is not uni3ue and not new. It represents a classic conflict that is
the basic source of societal laws and regulations, especially in the management of
resources. @or example, whether or not to place air pollution scrubbers on the smo&e
stac&s of coal:fired power plants is precisely the same issue. In this case, it is not
ecosystem conversion, per se, but the fact that the businesses that run the power plants
benefit from their operation, but the public HownsI and relies on the atmosphere is a
conflict between public and private interests. *ome of the ways to navigate the dilemma
is for society to create regulations to protect the public interest. he problem is difficult
and clearly does not depend solely on economic valuation of the costs and benefits
because there can be considerable debate about those estimates. 9ne only has to loo& at
the global climate change problem to suggest how hard it will be to ma&e progress in an
expedient manner.
-. here is concern and evidence that amphibian populations are declining
worldwide as a conse3uence of factors acting globally. =iven that we &now that
species extinction is a natural process, how do we determine if there is a global
decline that is different from normal species extinction?
Answer!his is not a trivial underta&ing, which is why, since the first concerns were
raised in the late 1A>Bs, it has ta&en nearly 12 years to collect evidence showing a decline
is li&ely. Although progress has been made on identifying potential causes, much wor&
remains to be done. +any amphibians are secretive, relatively long:lived, and sub)ect to
extreme population fluctuations. =iven those facts about their biology, documenting
population fluctuations 4conducting censuses of the number of individuals in populations5
for long periods of time is the only way to ultimately establish the li&ely fate of
populations, and that process is time:consuming and costly.

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