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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Preston's Bell.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Krakatau scientifically important?
(a) It is a controlled experiment.
(b) It is an exception to most rules of population dispersal.
(c) It is so isolated.
(d) It is just being populated now.

2. Who does Quammen say typically collected insects?
(a) Hunters in the Amazon.
(b) Wealthy Brits.
(c) The most devoted scientists.
(d) Ambitious young Americans.

3. What is the first example Quammen cites of a species that has gone extinct?
(a) The passenger pigeon in North America.
(b) The dodo.
(c) The Manatee in Florida.
(d) The tiger in Bali.

4. What did the dodo eat?
(a) Insects.
(b) Other birds.
(c) Small mammals and snakes.
(d) Fruit.

5. What assertion did Frank Preston make based on his data?
(a) That a national park that wanted to be a microcosm of wild species would need a large buffer zone to encourage diversity.
(b) That a national park 'microcosm' would not be representative of wild species.
(c) That a national park could contain a microcosm of the wild species.
(d) That the earth itself is a single ecosystem, and it cannot be broken down into constituent parts without losing sight of the whole.

Short Answer Questions

1. What were Frank Preston's findings in plotting the distribution of species in island habitats?

2. What is the tone of Quammen's writing in the opening chapter?

3. What doe Quammen say about this rule?

4. How do scientists relate data from samples and isolates to larger areas?

5. How does Quammen describe the komodo dragon's territory?

(see the answer key)

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