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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many species did Wilson and MacArthur predict would establish an equilibrium in Krakatau?
(a) 50.
(b) 500.
(c) 250.
(d) 30.

2. What was Bedo's reputation?
(a) An indispensable help.
(b) A nuisance.
(c) A gadfly.
(d) A ladies man.

3. What does Quammen say was found to play a role in the minimum viable population?
(a) A species' breeding habits.
(b) A species' environment.
(c) A species' typical number of offspring.
(d) A species' genetic history.

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

5. Who had performed research in Aru?
(a) Gould.
(b) Darwin.
(c) Wilson.
(d) Wallace.

6. How many Mauritius kestrels were still in existence at the species' lowest point?
(a) Two.
(b) Twelve.
(c) Four.
(d) Nine.

7. What was the consequence of the Simberloff and Abele article?
(a) A return to the old paradigm of large reserves holding more species.
(b) A shift to a new theory about speciation.
(c) A raging debate about theory.
(d) A chaos as scientists didn't know which theory to believe.

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

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

10. How did Quammen get to Aru?
(a) By foot.
(b) By canoe.
(c) Float plane.
(d) Tourist cruise to native transportation.

11. How does Quammen's visit to Aru compare with Wallace's?
(a) It creates another new field of scientific inquiry.
(b) It pales in comparison.
(c) It provides a closing chapter to something Wallace began in the nineteenth century.
(d) It inspires another revolutionary concept about evolution.

12. When did the Mauritius kestrel population begin to decline?
(a) 1990s.
(b) 1930s.
(c) 1950s.
(d) 1970s.

13. When was the concept of the minimum viable population introduced?
(a) 1967.
(b) 1971.
(c) 1988.
(d) 1962.

14. How does Quammen distinguish the Mauritius kestrel from other species that might need to be saved?
(a) Mauritius kestrels were semi-domesticated.
(b) Mauritius kestrels were always an island species with low numbers.
(c) Mauritius kestrels had not had to compete with invasive competitors.
(d) Mauritius kestrels were relatively easy to breed in captivity.

15. What observation did Wilson make to Quammen?
(a) That islands with caves had the greatest biodiversity.
(b) That species diversity declined in islands in the southern hemisphere.
(c) That taller islands had more species.
(d) That fewer species were found on more remote islands.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Quammen believe happened to Bedo?

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

3. What was Lovejoy's response to the questions Simberloff and Abele raised?

4. What is the literary term for the final chapter?

5. What was Lovejoy's strategy in his plan?

(see the answer keys)

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