Test Bank
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 59: Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Erica Bergquist)
Multiple Choice
1. After numerous efforts, the _______ fish species had been successfully introduced into
Flathead Lake in Montana by 1928. It became the dominant sport fish species until the
1960s, when it was replaced by the _______ fish species. This replacement occurred due
to the introduction of _______ into the lake as a potential food source, which
unexpectedly was ignored by the first species and eaten by the second species.
a. bull trout; cutthroat trout; zooplankton
b. cutthroat trout; kokanee salmon; opossum shrimp
c. kokanee salmon; lake trout; opossum shrimp
d. lake trout; bull trout; juvenile kokanee salmon
e. cutthroat trout; bull trout; zooplankton
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 59.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. Bull trout are native to Flathead Lake in Montana. Both kokanee salmon and lake trout
were introduced to the lake, and each had a different effect on the bull trout. Which of the
following correctly describes the effect of one of these introduced species on the bull
trout population size?
a. Kokanee salmon populations remained small, and thus had only a small effect on the
bull trout population size.
b. Kokanee salmon competed with bull trout for opossum shrimp, and thus decreased the
bull trout population size.
c. Kokanee salmon fed on juvenile fish, including bull trout, and the introduction of lake
trout gave the salmon an additional food source and thus increased the bull trout
population size.
d. Lake trout and bull trout had different niches, and thus the lake trout had only a small
effect on the bull trout population size.
e. Lake trout fed on juvenile bull trout, and thus decreased the bull trout population size.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 59.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,3. Which of the following initiatives would be included in modern conservation biology’s
efforts to preserve biodiversity?
a. Preserving the economic value gained from commercial fisheries
b. Protecting a species of butterfly for its intrinsic beauty
c. Protecting a woody shrub because of its medicinal applications
d. Protecting a sea otter because the community as a whole is more stable with that
species present
e. All of the above
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
4. Which of the following statements about conservation biology is false?
a. The idea that ecosystems have both economic and intrinsic values for humans is a
principle of conservation biology.
b. Conservation biology is an applied science.
c. The goal of conservation biology is to prevent human influences on natural
ecosystems.
d. Conservation biology requires an understanding of the evolutionary processes that
affect biodiversity.
e. Conservation biology includes studies of the psychological and aesthetic benefits of
biodiversity.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
5. Which of the following topics is least likely to be studied by a conservation biologist?
a. The effect that removing a river dam has on aquatic species
b. The reasons given by tourists for visiting a national park
c. A controlled experiment on the effects of acid rain on lake biodiversity
d. Nutrient flow between the fungal and algal components of lichens
e. The role of ecotourism in maintaining rainforest ecosystems
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
6. Which of the following would not be considered a measure of biodiversity?
a. Six alleles are present at the alcohol dehydrogenase gene in a population of Drosophila
melanogaster.
b. In a population of minnows, 47 percent of the loci are polymorphic.
c. In a human population, 24 percent of individuals are polymorphic at the Y76Y locus.
d. A sample of water taken from the Hudson River has 369 different algal species.
e. In a ragweed population, the average time from germination to setting seed is 95 days.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,7. Which of the following statements about extinctions is false?
a. The background extinction rate is that which occurs during a mass extinction.
b. Extinctions are occurring now at rates comparable to those of the five mass extinctions.
c. Most of the species that have ever existed are extinct.
d. The five historical mass extinction events all were due to cataclysmic natural
disturbances.
e. Most species extinctions today are due to human activities.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
8. The first arrival of humans in North America, Hawaii, and Australia correlates with the
extinction of many _______ species from these lands.
a. insect
b. megafauna
c. reptile
d. soil invertebrate
e. songbird
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
9. Which of the following statements about the current mass extinction episode is false?
a. The cause of the current episode is different from the causes of historical episodes.
b. The current episode has continued for 400 years, whereas historical episodes lasted for
much shorter time periods.
c. The current episode resembles historical episodes in that it is occurring at a global
level.
d. The current episode resembles historical episodes in that many kinds of life are going
extinct.
e. The current episode resembles historical episodes in that extinction rates are many
times higher than the normal background rates.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
10. The evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson argues that we are in the midst of a mass
extinction event because, according to his estimation, approximately _______ species are
going extinct on Earth each year.
a. 30
b. 300
c. 3,000
d. 30,000
e. 300,000
Answer: d
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
11. Which of the following statements about the value of biodiversity is false?
a. Although a worthy goal, preserving the aesthetic benefits of biodiversity has no
economic value.
b. More than a quarter of medical prescriptions either contain or are based on plant
products.
c. Species loss can damage the functioning of ecosystems.
d. A wide variety of microbes increase the nutritional value of food.
e. Various philosophies and religions claim that biodiversity has intrinsic value.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Biologists have a good idea of the number of species on Earth.
b. One factor that limits biologists’ ability to predict the number of species that will go
extinct in the next 50 years is the lack of knowledge about the geographic ranges of many
species.
c. If humans did not exist, no species would go extinct in the next 100 years.
d. The process of determining whether a species has gone extinct is relatively simple.
e. Understanding the connections among species is important for predicting extinctions,
and biologists have a good understanding of those connections for most ecosystems.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 59.2 How Do Conservation Biologists Predict Changes in
Biodiversity?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
13. Based on the inventory made in 2009, which one of the following groups had the
most newly discovered species in that year?
a. Birds
b. Fungi
c. Insects
d. Mammals
e. Plants
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 59.2 How Do Conservation Biologists Predict Changes in
Biodiversity?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
14. The case of the ivory-billed woodpecker best illustrates
a. the potential medicinal value of biodiversity.
b. how global warming has led to species extinctions.
c. the difficulty of determining when a species has actually gone extinct.
d. the complexity of biological interactions.
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 59: Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Erica Bergquist)
Multiple Choice
1. After numerous efforts, the _______ fish species had been successfully introduced into
Flathead Lake in Montana by 1928. It became the dominant sport fish species until the
1960s, when it was replaced by the _______ fish species. This replacement occurred due
to the introduction of _______ into the lake as a potential food source, which
unexpectedly was ignored by the first species and eaten by the second species.
a. bull trout; cutthroat trout; zooplankton
b. cutthroat trout; kokanee salmon; opossum shrimp
c. kokanee salmon; lake trout; opossum shrimp
d. lake trout; bull trout; juvenile kokanee salmon
e. cutthroat trout; bull trout; zooplankton
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 59.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. Bull trout are native to Flathead Lake in Montana. Both kokanee salmon and lake trout
were introduced to the lake, and each had a different effect on the bull trout. Which of the
following correctly describes the effect of one of these introduced species on the bull
trout population size?
a. Kokanee salmon populations remained small, and thus had only a small effect on the
bull trout population size.
b. Kokanee salmon competed with bull trout for opossum shrimp, and thus decreased the
bull trout population size.
c. Kokanee salmon fed on juvenile fish, including bull trout, and the introduction of lake
trout gave the salmon an additional food source and thus increased the bull trout
population size.
d. Lake trout and bull trout had different niches, and thus the lake trout had only a small
effect on the bull trout population size.
e. Lake trout fed on juvenile bull trout, and thus decreased the bull trout population size.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 59.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,3. Which of the following initiatives would be included in modern conservation biology’s
efforts to preserve biodiversity?
a. Preserving the economic value gained from commercial fisheries
b. Protecting a species of butterfly for its intrinsic beauty
c. Protecting a woody shrub because of its medicinal applications
d. Protecting a sea otter because the community as a whole is more stable with that
species present
e. All of the above
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
4. Which of the following statements about conservation biology is false?
a. The idea that ecosystems have both economic and intrinsic values for humans is a
principle of conservation biology.
b. Conservation biology is an applied science.
c. The goal of conservation biology is to prevent human influences on natural
ecosystems.
d. Conservation biology requires an understanding of the evolutionary processes that
affect biodiversity.
e. Conservation biology includes studies of the psychological and aesthetic benefits of
biodiversity.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
5. Which of the following topics is least likely to be studied by a conservation biologist?
a. The effect that removing a river dam has on aquatic species
b. The reasons given by tourists for visiting a national park
c. A controlled experiment on the effects of acid rain on lake biodiversity
d. Nutrient flow between the fungal and algal components of lichens
e. The role of ecotourism in maintaining rainforest ecosystems
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
6. Which of the following would not be considered a measure of biodiversity?
a. Six alleles are present at the alcohol dehydrogenase gene in a population of Drosophila
melanogaster.
b. In a population of minnows, 47 percent of the loci are polymorphic.
c. In a human population, 24 percent of individuals are polymorphic at the Y76Y locus.
d. A sample of water taken from the Hudson River has 369 different algal species.
e. In a ragweed population, the average time from germination to setting seed is 95 days.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,7. Which of the following statements about extinctions is false?
a. The background extinction rate is that which occurs during a mass extinction.
b. Extinctions are occurring now at rates comparable to those of the five mass extinctions.
c. Most of the species that have ever existed are extinct.
d. The five historical mass extinction events all were due to cataclysmic natural
disturbances.
e. Most species extinctions today are due to human activities.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
8. The first arrival of humans in North America, Hawaii, and Australia correlates with the
extinction of many _______ species from these lands.
a. insect
b. megafauna
c. reptile
d. soil invertebrate
e. songbird
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
9. Which of the following statements about the current mass extinction episode is false?
a. The cause of the current episode is different from the causes of historical episodes.
b. The current episode has continued for 400 years, whereas historical episodes lasted for
much shorter time periods.
c. The current episode resembles historical episodes in that it is occurring at a global
level.
d. The current episode resembles historical episodes in that many kinds of life are going
extinct.
e. The current episode resembles historical episodes in that extinction rates are many
times higher than the normal background rates.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
10. The evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson argues that we are in the midst of a mass
extinction event because, according to his estimation, approximately _______ species are
going extinct on Earth each year.
a. 30
b. 300
c. 3,000
d. 30,000
e. 300,000
Answer: d
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
11. Which of the following statements about the value of biodiversity is false?
a. Although a worthy goal, preserving the aesthetic benefits of biodiversity has no
economic value.
b. More than a quarter of medical prescriptions either contain or are based on plant
products.
c. Species loss can damage the functioning of ecosystems.
d. A wide variety of microbes increase the nutritional value of food.
e. Various philosophies and religions claim that biodiversity has intrinsic value.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 59.1 What Is Conservation Biology?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Biologists have a good idea of the number of species on Earth.
b. One factor that limits biologists’ ability to predict the number of species that will go
extinct in the next 50 years is the lack of knowledge about the geographic ranges of many
species.
c. If humans did not exist, no species would go extinct in the next 100 years.
d. The process of determining whether a species has gone extinct is relatively simple.
e. Understanding the connections among species is important for predicting extinctions,
and biologists have a good understanding of those connections for most ecosystems.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 59.2 How Do Conservation Biologists Predict Changes in
Biodiversity?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
13. Based on the inventory made in 2009, which one of the following groups had the
most newly discovered species in that year?
a. Birds
b. Fungi
c. Insects
d. Mammals
e. Plants
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 59.2 How Do Conservation Biologists Predict Changes in
Biodiversity?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
14. The case of the ivory-billed woodpecker best illustrates
a. the potential medicinal value of biodiversity.
b. how global warming has led to species extinctions.
c. the difficulty of determining when a species has actually gone extinct.
d. the complexity of biological interactions.
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
