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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Quammen told to find, in order to observe this species?
(a) The burrows where they lived.
(b) The lakes where they built nests.
(c) The cliffs where they perched.
(d) The tree where they gathered.

2. What objection did Simberloff and Abele raise?
(a) That the theory had been accepted through personal influence of major thinkers, not because of its predictive ability.
(b) That the data was not thoroughly tested.
(c) That there were inconsistencies in the data.
(d) That the theory still needed to be tested in more and different environments.

3. What was Thomas Lovejoy's interest in the debate about the size of reserves and the number of species they support?
(a) He was in charge of setting conservation policy.
(b) He was in charge of determining whether species were endangered.
(c) He was in charge of creating natural reserves.
(d) He was in charge of government policy on forestry.

4. What did Wilson show Quammen when the two men visited?
(a) A slide show of how Wilson and MacArthur developed their theory.
(b) Specimens that had helped Wilson and MacArthur develop their theory.
(c) Drafts of the papers that defined biogeography.
(d) Letters people had written to Wilson and MacArthur about their theories.

5. How was the minimum viable population theory applied in Texas?
(a) Officials wanted to know if a dam would destroy too much habitat for an endangered snake.
(b) Officials wanted to create an open season for hunting mountain lions.
(c) Officials wanted to determine how much development could take place without damaging the viability of a species of water bird.
(d) Officials wanted to know how many invasive fish they would have to kill off to collapse the population.

6. What did this species do in the location where Quammen was told to look for them?
(a) Hibernated.
(b) Migrated.
(c) Mated.
(d) Fed.

7. How does Quammen describe Aru?
(a) Urban.
(b)
(c) Interconnected.
(d) Isolated.

8. What strategy was Karen Strier opposed to using, for preserving the muriqui population?
(a) Hunting down poachers.
(b) Imposing limits on environmental encroachment.
(c) Relocating some families. Working with the muriqui families on an individual basis.
(d) Breeding the muriqui in captivity.

9. How did Carl Jones protect the Mauritius kestrels when their population began to recover?
(a) Breeding the species that provide food for the kestrel.
(b) Domesticating the kestrels.
(c) Trapping kestrel predators.
(d) Killing other birds that would compete for food.

10. What theory came from the research that had been performed in Aru?
(a) Natural selection.
(b) Social Darwinism.
(c) Survival of the fittest.
(d) Island biogeography.

11. Who confirmed to Quammen that this site in fact existed?
(a) His graduate assistant.
(b) Wallace.
(c) Researchers on the island.
(d) Natives.

12. What does Lawrence Abele study?
(a) Coral.
(b) Tasmanian tigers.
(c) Birds.
(d) Komodo dragons.

13. What point does Quammen make by describing his sighting of the species he sought on Aru?
(a) That it is just a matter of time before these animals are extinct.
(b) That species are in danger regardless of their magnificence.
(c) That magnificent species survive in spite of human activity.
(d) That extinction is looming not only for this species but for the entire ecosystem it lives in.

14. What would Carl Jones feed to the wild Mauritius kestrels?
(a) Bread.
(b) Snakes.
(c) Rats.
(d) Mice.

15. What theory did Dan Simberloff and Lawrence Abele challenge in an article?
(a) That small, widely separated nature reserves would support a wider variety of species than nearer reserves.
(b) That large nature reserves would support more species than several small ones.
(c) That extinctions take place cyclically in any ecosystem.
(d) That species variety is the most important indicator of ecosystem health.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Wilson and MacArthur say about the immigration of new species in an island ecosystem?

2. What environment is NOT analogous to an island, according to Quammen?

3. What does Quammen say is distinctive about the indri?

4. What condition would help a species breed out harmful genes?

5. How does Quammen's tone change in the final chapter?

(see the answer keys)

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