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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Wilson and MacArthur test their theory about recolonization?

2. What does Quammen say the indri's future looks like?

3. What incident does Quammen relate at the end of chapter nine, "World in Pieces"?

4. Where do the indri live?

5. What was the state of Lovejoy's plan when Quammen visited the sites with him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the practical example of species management Quammen cited from Texas?

2. How do genetics play a role in the minimum viable population?

3. Why did Quammen choose Aru as the destination for his final chapter?

4. How does Quammen's argument circle back to its origins in chapter nine, "World in Pieces"?

5. How did Quammen get to Aru?

6. How does Quammen describe the indri?

7. What experiment took place in the Florida Keys?

8. What did Simberloff and Abele propose as a result of their data?

9. How did Carl Jones save the Mauritius kestrel?

10. What is the definition of 'viable' in Quammen's account?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

If you were in charge of protecting the maximum number of species in your region, would you create one large nature reserve, or a number of smaller reserves? Use arguments from the book as well as descriptions of local wildlife in your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Is Quammen consistent from the beginning of 'The Song of the Dodo' to the end? What expectations does he establish in the beginning? Does he fulfill them, over the course of the book? Does he abandon or sidestep the question of conservation in his discussion of methods of analysis and study?

Essay Topic 3

If you were going to try to make a difference in the field of rescuing species from extinction, what actions would you take, based on the information presented in this book? What strategies would you employ? What part of Quammen's book leads you to believe that this would be an effective strategy for mitigating species loss.

(see the answer keys)

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