Chapter 9: Biodiversity

Question 1

When the Endangered Species Act was established in 1973, the endangered and threatened species list included 78 U.S. species. In 2018, that number had risen to ____.

Answer 1

1,661

Question 2

Humans who cut down forests indiscriminately may _____

Answer 2

fail to find potential botanical sources of medicine

Question 3

Because birds live in every climate and biome, and because they are easy to track and count, they serve as excellent ____.

Answer 3

indicator species

Question 4

A speciation crisis occurs when ____.

Answer 4

there are fewer opportunities for new species to evolve

Question 5

Revenues from ecotourism generate more than $1 million per minute in tourist expenditures worldwide.

Answer 5

true

Question 6

Which plant could you cite as an example of why it is so important to protect natural populations, rather than just learning to synthesize medicinal compounds in the lab?

Answer 6

Yarrow

Question 7

Alarming projected extinction rates may be underestimates, but one way to reduce this risk is ____.

Answer 7

to reduce human population growth

Question 8

There are many actions an individual can take to help protect endangered and threatened species. Which of the following is least likely to be effective?

Answer 8

Spread the word about the importance of this issue.

Question 9

Colony collapse disorder may benefit native bees in the United States that have been outcompeted by introduced European honeybees.

Answer 9

false

Question 10

To make CITES more effective, it would be most important to____.

Answer 10

increase fines and improve enforcement

Question 11

Elephants are at risk because they are commercially valuable.

Answer 11

true

Question 12

The biggest problem with invasive species is that they ____ in the new location.

Answer 12

have no population controls such as predators

Question 13

Which idea proposes that we take measures to prevent harm to the environment and human health even if the science has not been fully established?

Answer 13

Precautionary principle

Question 14

The best way to limit the impact of invasive species is to ____.

Answer 14

prevent them from being introduced in the first place

Question 15

The pesticide DDT was especially harmful to eagles as they are high on the food chain.

Answer 15

true

Question 16

The most important factor leading to declines in bird populations is ____.

Answer 16

habitat loss

Question 17

After a mass extinction, the earth’s overall biodiversity eventually returns to equal or higher levels.

Answer 17

true

Question 18

Bioprospectors are ____.

Answer 18

people who search for organisms that may be useful sources of medications

Question 19

The Convention on Biological Diversity, ratified by 191 countries, seeks to reverse the global decline of biodiversity and share the benefits from the use of genetic resources. What has slowed this progress?

Answer 19

The lack of ratification by the United States

Question 20

When a large, contiguous area of habitat is reduced in area and divided into smaller, more scattered patches, the process is called ____.

Answer 20

habitat fragmentation

Question 21

The most commonly hunted bushmeat animal is ____.

Answer 21

NOT MONKEYS
NOT ELEPHANTS

Question 22

The extinction of many species in a relatively short period of geologic time is called a ____.

Answer 22

mass extinction

Question 23

Biologists think there are four major reasons why we should work to prevent human activities from causing the extinction of other species. Which of the following is the exception?

Answer 23

We need animals, especially rare animals, for zoos.

Question 24

Illegal hunting for profit is called ____.

Answer 24

poaching

Question 25

Some toxic chemicals, such as those in DDT, can be stored in the fat tissue of animals. As these animals become food for larger and larger animals, the amount of the toxin gets larger and larger. What is this process called?

Answer 25

Biomagnification

Question 26

An endangered species ____.

Answer 26

may soon become extinct over all or most of its range

Question 27

A nonnative species that has been introduced to the United States with positive results is corn.

Answer 27

true

Question 28

Although honeybees are threatened by colony collapse disorder, most beekeepers have developed ways to protect their hives.

Answer 28

true

Question 29

If humans had no impact on species extinctions, ____.

Answer 29

extinctions would still occur at the background extinction rate

Question 30

Colony collapse disorder ____.

Answer 30

occurs when honeybees leave in winter and don't return to their hives in spring

Question 31

It’s not a problem to release pets into the wild because they won’t survive anyway.

Answer 31

false

Question 32

Four of the five statements about nonnative species are true. Select the exception.

Answer 32

Nonnative species provide no benefits in their new habitats.

Question 33

DDT is unique in that it builds up in top predators through bioaccumulation, unlike other chemicals.

Answer 33

false

Question 34

Mass extinction ____.

Answer 34

has occurred five times in the past, but is occurring more quickly this time

Question 35

Population declines among birds, especially long-distance migrant birds, have several primary causes. Which of the following causes is the exception?

Answer 35

Intentional poisoning of food supplies

Question 36

Captive breeding programs in zoos ____.

Answer 36

require the captive population to number between 100 and 500

Question 37

It is relatively simple to remove an invasive species once it becomes clear that the species is causing damage.

Answer 37

false

Question 38

The key role of a honeybee in agriculture is to ____ plants and flowers.

Answer 38

pollinate

Question 39

CITES is a(n) ____.

Answer 39

treaty controlling the international trade in endangered species

Question 40

Burmese pythons do not appear to be harming native wildlife in Florida.

Answer 40

false

Question 41

Why does it affect biodiversity if you bring firewood into a national park?

Answer 41

Exotic species can be introduced if they are living in the wood.

Question 42

If you wanted to help protect endangered species, which of the following approaches would be the least effective and most problematic?

Answer 42

Harvesting predators of endangered species.

Question 43

The extinction of the passenger pigeon provides evidence that even highly abundant species can go extinct under adverse conditions.

Answer 43

true

Question 44

If you wanted to work out why numbers of a Hawaiian species were declining, the first thing to check would be whether an invasive species was affecting it as this is the most likely reason.

Answer 44

true

Question 45

The current extinction rate is close to the background extinction rate.

Answer 45

false

Question 46

Continuing decline of pollinator populations, such as honeybees, could cause a serious disruption of food production for humans.

Answer 46

true

Question 47

If estimates of an extinction rate 10,000 times greater than the background rate are correct, then what percentage of all species will be extinct by the end of this century?

Answer 47

25–50%

Question 48

Four of the following are characteristics that make some species especially vulnerable to ecological and biological extinction. Select the exception.

Answer 48

Small territories

Question 49

Parrots are at risk due to their popularity as pets, which leads people to capture them.

Answer 49

true

Question 50

All mass extinctions thus far have been caused by natural phenomena that drastically changed environmental conditions.

Answer 50

true

Question 51

HIPPCO is a(n) ____.

Answer 51

acronym summarizing causes of extinction

Question 52

One effective and sustainable approach that you could use to try to reduce bushmeat consumption is ____.

Answer 52

to help people develop good techniques for raising other animals for food.

Question 53

Which invasive species threatens the Florida Everglades?

Answer 53

Pythons

Question 54

Bioprospectors extract precious gems and minerals from natural areas.

Answer 54

false

Question 55

An animal that is often seen throughout its range but has suddenly started declining rapidly in numbers due to disease would most likely be considered ____.

Answer 55

a threatened species

Question 56

After a mass extinction, what happens to biodiversity rates?

Answer 56

They recover over millions of years.

Question 57

Egg pulling refers to ____.

Answer 57

collecting eggs from the wild and hatching them

Question 58

The use of DDT in the 1950s and 1960s was nearly responsible for the extinction of which familiar bird species?

Answer 58

Bald eagle

Question 59

A newly discovered species is present in low numbers and can only survive if a particular plant species is present for food and shelter, so ____.

Answer 59

the species is at high risk due to its specialized niche

Question 60

In terms of habitat destruction, the greatest eliminator of species is the ____.

Answer 60

deforestation in tropical areas

Question 61

Four of the five statements about kudzu are true. Which one is the exception?

Answer 61

It can be controlled by normal weed control measures.

Question 62

One of the main ways that habitat fragmentation occurs is by logging.

Answer 62

true

Question 63

The sixth mass extinction is different from previous mass extinctions in that ____.

Answer 63

it will occur very rapidly

Question 64

Ecotourism ____.

Answer 64

specializes in environmentally responsible travel to natural areas

Question 65

A threatened species ____.

Answer 65

is declining and likely to become endangered if steps are not taken

Question 66

The greatest eliminator of species is overhunting and overfishing.

Answer 66

false

Question 67

The active ingredients in nine of the ten leading prescription drugs originally came from wild organisms.

Answer 67

true

Question 68

If entire habitat types are destroyed through development, this greatly increases the risk that ____.

Answer 68

any recovery of biodiversity after mass extinction will be slow and difficult

Question 69

Neonicotinoids may interfere with the function of honeybee nervous systems.

Answer 69

true

Question 70

Polar bears have trouble finding prey when ____.

Answer 70

there is less floating ice on which to hunt

Question 71

If illegal wildlife smuggling were less profitable, it would be less appealing to organized crime that currently benefits from it.

Answer 71

true

Question 72

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is threatened by flooding due to climate change.

Answer 72

true

Question 73

When island habitats are destroyed, there is a relatively high risk that species will go extinct.

Answer 73

true

Question 74

What group of animals receives the most protection by the use of wildlife refuges?

Answer 74

Migratory waterfowl

Question 75

One concern about reliance on European honeybees for pollination is that ____.

Answer 75

we are heavily dependent on a single species for crop production

Question 76

What species was intentionally introduced into the United States?

Answer 76

kudzu

Question 77

According to researchers, the greatest threat to wild species is ____.

Answer 77

habitat destruction

Question 78

If you wanted to reduce numbers of kudzu bugs using pesticides, it would be important to take steps to reduce the risk of their developing resistance to the chemicals used.

Answer 78

true

Question 79

Which species would provide the best example to explain the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act?

Answer 79

bald eagles

Question 80

Current data on extinction rates is too unreliable to allow us to make useful predictions about the effects of our efforts to protect species.

Answer 80

false