Deck 13: Reserving Biodiversity- a Forest Without Elephants: Can We Save One of Earths Iconic Species- Water Resources

Question 1

Single-species conservation efforts would protect a species whose habitat was under constant threat.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

According to the Red List, created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which classification would be given to a species under the most serious threat?

A) near threatened
B) vulnerable
C) critically endangered
D) endangered
E) least concern

Answer 2

critically endangered

Question 3

Why do you think single-species conservation efforts have focused on cute and cuddly endangered species? What are the pros and cons to such an approach?

Answer 3

Many conservation efforts rely on donations from the public. It is more likely that you are going to give money to a cause that "saves the whales/polar bears/white rhino" than the humble blob fish. For the species that are targeted, this kind of conservation effort can be very successful. It may bring some from the brink of extinction to having healthy and growing populations in the wild. Unfortunately, sometimes the species that are targeted have other pressures, like habitat destruction or poaching, which may not be fully addressed by the conservation efforts, and thus they will likely not reach healthy population conditions in the wild. Another con of this approach is that the majority of endangered species is neither cute nor cuddly. Our friend the blob fish, recently voted world's ugliest animal, does not benefit from traditional single-species efforts. However, societies like the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, whose motto is "We can't all be pandas," are taking these less attractive animals and funding conservation efforts on their behalf. They recognize that any endangered organism, cute or not, is part of a greater ecosystem and has an important role to play.

Question 4

Many zoos participate in species survival plans in which members of a particular endangered species are transferred from zoo to zoo to mate with other members of that species. Why is this mating technique important for the continuation of the species?

A) Oftentimes zoos will only have one sex of the endangered animal, so to mate those individuals, they must be moved to another zoo with members of the opposite sex.
B) This reduces the genetic diversity of the population as a whole and increases the likelihood that the species will survive and thrive in the wild.
C) This technique allows captive animals to experience different environments, since they are unlikely to ever be released back into the wild.
D) This technique increases the genetic diversity of the next generation of the species, which makes them more suited to weather any disturbances in their natural habitats upon release.
E) There are only a few zoos that are certified to house and rear young, so mating and birth must take place at these facilities.

Question 5

Which are global threats to biodiversity?

A) climate change
B) introduction of invasive species
C) habitat destruction and fragmentation
D) overexploitation
E) All of the answers are global threats.

Question 6

In ecosystem conservation, the indicator species are also protected under single-species conservation efforts.

Question 7

What are some techniques employed by ecosystem conservationists?

A) reforestation
B) remediation
C) landscape conservation
D) monitoring of indicator species
E) all of these answers

Question 8

What are some tactics utilized in single-species conservation efforts?

A) captive breeding programs
B) release of animals back into the wild
C) use of charismatic species-that is, those that garner attention and funds from the public
D) fieldwork to monitor species and habitat health
E) all of these answers

Question 9

In contrast of single-species conservation, ecosystem conservation:

A) focuses only on species of financial interest to humans.
B) uses measures such as species richness and evenness to guide conservation efforts.
C) uses genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to increase the health of an ecosystem.
D) only affects the health of indicator species of an ecosystem.
E) only focuses on species with a low population number.

Question 10

The loss of nearly one-third of all plants and animal species on Earth would directly affect human societies.

Question 11

What are some limits to the single-species conservation approach?

A) Typically, only cute animals are recipients of this approach.
B) It does not take the entire ecosystem into account.
C) The genetic altering of keystone species does not always produce a more fit species for that ecosystem.
D) Both A and B are correct.
E) A, B, and C are correct.

Question 12

Which ecosystem would yield the greatest benefit from ecosystem conservation efforts?

A) an ecosystem with high biodiversity
B) an ecosystem with low biodiversity
C) Ecosystem conservation efforts would benefit both ecosystems equally.

Question 13

Consider the following scenario: A captive breeding program employed by several zoos has had tremendous success in increasing the number of Amazon River dolphins in captivity. The eventual goal of this effort is to release these animals back into their natural habitat, which is increasingly becoming more and more polluted. Do you think this conservation effort will save the Amazon River dolphin? Why or why not? If not, what would you do in conjunction with the breeding program?

Question 14

Infographic 13.1.

Refer to the graph in Infographic 13.1. Which human activities likely contribute to climate change?

A) logging, agriculture, pollution
B) energy production, residential development, aquaculture
C) mining, commercial development, fisheries
D) All of these answers contribute to climate change.
E) None of these answers contribute to climate change.

Question 15

Biodiversity is important in a population because:

A) individuals in that population need a variety of mates.
B) it allows the population to be more resistant to disruptions.
C) it increases the populations vulnerability to extinction.
D) it increases the chances that each member of the population will be identical to each other.
E) it measures the species' richness but not the genetic diversity in the population and is therefore a great predictor of ecosystem stability.

Question 16

The singling out of well-known species for conservation efforts falls under which approach?

A) ecosystem conservation
B) single-species conservation
C) landscape conservation
D) conservation genetics
E) ecosystem restoration

Question 17

Conservation biology is a science whose aim is to preserve:

A) ecosystems.
B) habitats.
C) biodiversity.
D) specific species.
E) only endangered species.

Question 18

All of the threats to biodiversity listed in Question 3 (climate change, introduction of invasive species, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and overexploitation) are due to human activities.

Question 19

Infographic 13.2.

Refer to Infographic 13.2. Why might the number of species counted in the Red List of Threatened Species be underestimated in every category?

Question 20

Infographic 13.1.

Refer to the graph in Infographic 13.1. Agriculture/aquaculture represents the greatest threat to vertebrate species. Why do you think this is? Frame your answer in terms of the major threats to global biodiversity.

Question 21

In which protected area(s) could you hunt and fish?

A) wilderness area
B) national park
C) nature preserve
D) wildlife refuge
E) both A and D

Question 22

How much of Earth's total land area is protected to some degree?

A) 7%
B) 13%
C) 28%
D) 48%
E) 62%

Question 23

Which conservation treaties or acts are international?

A) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
B) Convention on Biological Diversity
C) Endangered Species Act
D) both A and B
E) A, B, and C

Question 24

With which other conservation efforts could conservation genetics collaborate with?

A) ecosystem conservation
B) single-species conservation
C) landscape conservation
D) remediation
E) all of these answers

Question 25

Why would the sale of legitimately acquired ivory (from elephants deceased from natural causes, for example) increase poaching and the sale of illegally acquired ivory?

Question 26

Why would DNA fingerprinting be a useful tool to monitor some populations of endangered species?

Question 27

Conservation genetics is useful to determine:

A) whether two populations are distinct species or the same species.
B) the amount of genetic diversity in a population.
C) from which region of a country a contraband animal product is from.
D) whether one population is part of an endangered species.
E) All of these answers are correct.

Question 28

Infographic 13.5.

Refer to Infographic 13.5. Using the DNA fingerprints, determine from where the unknown tusk was likely to have originated.

A) from the purple elephant population
B) from the brown elephant population
C) from the blue elephant population
D) from the dark green elephant population
E) There are not enough data to determine this.

Question 29

Which strategies are included in the Endangered Species Act to protect endangered species?

A) relocation of populations
B) genetic modification
C) habitat destruction
D) privately funded habitat conservation
E) none of these answers

Question 30

What is conservation genetics?

A) conserving a species genome so that it is best adapted to the current environment
B) harvesting and saving samples of species genomes from distinct time periods
C) a way to inform conservation efforts based on genetic information from species
D) techniques that preserve a low genetic diversity of an ecosystem
E) the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to strength a particular ecosystem

Question 31

How much of Earth's total ocean area is protected to some degree?

A) 1.6%
B) 5.8%
C) 12.1%
D) 19.4%
E) 24.4%

Question 32

Why do experts think that protected areas, even though they have been successful in the past, are not a long-term solution for endangered species?

A) There are not enough nature preserves, which has the highest level of protection.
B) Populations within these areas will become inbred after a while, which decreases the genetic diversity and makes the population more vulnerable to disturbances.
C) The areas themselves are being degraded due to factors like global warming and human construction, so the populations within the areas have to go outside of them, in unprotected areas, to find suitable habitats.
D) There is not enough species diversity within these areas.
E) Experts actually think that these kinds of protected areas are the solution for long-term management of endangered species.

Question 33

The Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) protects endangered species through conservation of natural habitats.

Question 34

From where can conservation geneticists collect DNA samples to monitor endangered species?

A) hair
B) feces
C) ivory
D) skin cells
E) all of these answers

Question 35

The results of DNA fingerprinting can define different populations in a given species.

Question 36

Which of the following is classified as a protected area?

A) wilderness area
B) national park
C) nature preserve
D) wildlife refuge
E) all of these answers

Question 37

Infographic 13.6,

In Infographic 13.6, South America has large amount of protected areas. Why do you think these protected areas are especially important to the biodiversity of Earth?

Question 38

In which protected area do you think an endangered species would best thrive?

Question 39

Which region of DNA molecules do conservation geneticists study?

A) promoters
B) the entire gene sequence
C) a portion of the gene sequence that encodes a protein
D) small sequences of repeating nucleotides
E) conservation geneticists actually study RNA molecules

Question 40

What information can be obtained through DNA fingerprinting, and why is it important that DNA fingerprinting be done using microsatellite DNA regions? What is special about these regions?

Question 41

If a natural product reflected its true cost, the cost would be ________ its current market value.

A) lower than
B) higher than
C) the same as

Question 42

What is the most important aspect of the protection of endangered species and ecosystems?

A) strict laws forbidding the sale of illegal animal products
B) international treaties protecting endangered ecosystems
C) conservation groups and efforts
D) cooperation from the local communities
E) all of these answers

Question 43

Table 13.2.

Refer to Table 13.2. Which conservation method do you think would benefit an endangered species whose habitat is being destroyed?

Question 44

What is true in debt-for-nature swaps?

A) The wealthy nation's debt is forgiven by donating money to conservation efforts.
B) In exchange for land rights in protected areas, wealthy nations forgive part of a developing nation's debt.
C) Wealthy nations forgive a part of a developing nation's debt if that nation promises to pay a percentage of any ecotourism profit with the wealthy nations.
D) Part of a developing nation's debt is forgiven by wealthy nations if they promise to protect natural areas in their country.
E) Part of a developing nation's debt is forgiven by wealthy nations if they promise to give the wealthy nation exclusive rights to vacation in protected areas.

Question 45

What is ecotourism?

A) low-impact travel to natural areas that contributes to the protection of the environment
B) where travelers go to different ecosystems around the globe
C) the ability of a tourist to purchase a small plot of land in a protected reserve
D) the financial gain that a community makes through the sale of their contraband animal products to tourists
E) virtual travel where the tourist does not impact the environment

Question 46

What is one way a consumer might impact the conservation of species and their habitats?

A) being educated about local and global conservation issues
B) buying sustainably produced products
C) using fewer resources
D) reducing carbon emissions
E) all of these answers

Question 47

Choices that I make here, in Minnesota, may affect elephant populations in Tanzania.

Question 48

Why would efforts to reduce armed conflict in many communities aid the preservation of endangered species?

Question 49

The overall goal of conservation efforts is to:

A) increase and maintain Earth's biodiversity.
B) protect species on the Red List.
C) increase the ecotourism industry.
D) make developing countries more financially stable.
E) only protect land ecosystems and not ocean ecosystems.

Question 50

What is a potential cause of a community hunting and selling products from endangered species?

A) droughts
B) war
C) poor nutrient soil
D) disease
E) all of these answers