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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Quammen say makes animals smaller on islands?
(a) Smaller territories.
(b) Larger predators.
(c) Larger food supply.
(d) Smaller food supply.

2. Who is Philip Darlington?
(a) A biologist.
(b) A sailor.
(c) A mathematician.
(d) A writer.

3. What were Frank Preston's findings in plotting the distribution of species in island habitats?
(a) An indirect proportion to represent commonness of species.
(b) A bell curve to represent commonness of species.
(c) A direct proportion to represent commonness of species.
(d) A random relationship between size of island and commonness of species.

4. What is Quammen really describing as he imagines the hacked up rug?
(a) Fragmented ecosystems.
(b) The spread of pathogens.
(c) Loss of environment to development.
(d) Loss of communication from one region to the next.

5. Where did Wallace travel after the Amazon?
(a) Palestine.
(b) Galapagos islands.
(c) Australia.
(d) The Malay Archipelago.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Quammen say about the overall pattern on this hypothetical rug?

2. Who did Robert Bates work with?

3. Who is Owen Griffiths?

4. What is a trophic cascade?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How did David Wallace make his start as a biologist, in Quammen's narrative?

2. Describe Quammen's tone in the first chapter.

3. What other Mauritius species does Quammen describe?

4. Why are islands important in ecosystem studies, in Quammen's opinion?

5. What is dispersal ability and why is it important?

6. What is the first explanation Quammen offers for the relationship between island size and species count?

7. Describe how Quammen's narrative progresses from one idea to the next.

8. What took David Quammen to Madagascar?

9. What is trophic cascade?

10. What examples does Quammen cite of species changing size on islands?

(see the answer keys)

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