Biodiversity and Habitat Loss – Middle School
1. Which of these kinds of climate data is a good predictor of the plant community that might be in an area?
A. mean annual biotemperature
B. mean biotemperature of the hottest month
C. mean biotemperature of the coldest month
D. total cumulative temperature
2. Which of these kinds of climate data is a good predictor of the plant community that might be in an area?
A. total annual precipitation
B. mean monthly precipitation
C. precipitation in the driest month
D. precipitation in the wettest month
3. Biotemperature is the temperature at which plants can grow. What would be the range of possible biotemperatures?
A. between 0° C and 30° C
B. between 0° C and 24° C
C. between 32° C and 104° C
D. between 0° F and 30° F
4. What kind of plant community would you expect to find at a place with a mean annual biotemperature of 24° C and
precipitation around 65 mm?
A. desert
B. tropical rain forest
C. grassland, steppe or prairie
D. tundra
5. What kind of plant community would you expect to find at a place with a mean annual biotemperature of 24° C and
precipitation around 14,000 mm?
A. tropical rain forest
B. desert
C. temperate rainforest
D. tundra
6. What kind of plant community would you expect to find at a place with a mean annual biotemperature of 9° C and
precipitation around 750 mm?
A. temperate forest
B. tropical rain forest
C. grassland, steppe or prairie
D. desert
7. What kind of plant community would you expect to find at a place with a mean annual biotemperature of 9° C and
precipitation around 300 mm?
A. grassland, steppe or prairie
B. temperate forest
C. tundra
D. desert
Correct Answer - A
Biodiversity and Habitat Loss – Middle School
8. What kind of plant community would you expect to find at a place with a mean annual biotemperature of 3° C and
precipitation from 60 to 1000 mm.
A. tundra
B. desert
C. temperate forest
D. tropical rain forest
9. What is global species extinction?
A. the death, without any surviving offspring, of all the individuals in a species
B. the death, without any surviving offspring, of all the individuals in a population
C. the death, after reproduction, of all the indviduals in a population
D. the death of all the adult members of a spcies
10. What is the background extinction rate estimated from the fossil record?
A. 0.001% of species every 100 years
B. over 50% of species every 100 years
C. 0.5% of species every 100 years
D. 1% of species every 100 years
11. What is the conservation status of a species that appears to be stable over most of all of its range for the time being?
A. least concern
B. near threatened
C. threatened or vulnerable
D. endangered
12. What is the conservation status of species whose numbers are reduced over its range or which is dependent on
conservation efforts to persist?
A. near threatened
B. least concern
C. endangered
D. threatened or vulnerable
13. What is the conservation status of a species likely to become endangered in the near future througout all or a
significant portion of its range?
A. threatened or vulnerable
B. near threatened
C. least concern
D. endangered
14. What is the conservation status of a species that is likely to become extinct in the near future throughout all or a
significant portion of its range?
A. endangered
B. threatened or vulnerable
C. least concern
D. near threatened
Correct Answer - A
Biodiversity and Habitat Loss – Middle School
15. What is a U.S. law passed by congress in 1973 to conserve the ecosystems that endangered and threatedn species
depend on?
A. the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
B. the Migratory Bird Treaty
C. the Basel Convention
D. Ramsar
16. What is it when a species is no longer able to survive and reproduce in the wild?
A. extinct in the wild
B. species extinction
C. co-threatened species
D. background extinction
17. What is it when over 50% of living species disappear in 100 years?
A. a mass extinction event
B. background extinction
C. species extinction
D. co-threatened
18. What are species that depend on a species that has gone extinct called?
A. co-threatened
B. extinct in the wild
C. a mass extinction event
D. species extinction
19. What is the Carolina parakeet an example of?
A. a species extinction in recent history
B. a mass extinction in geologic times
C. a potential future extinction event
D. a species extinct in the wild
20. What is the disappearance of thousands of marine species at the end of the Cretacous an example of?
A. a mass extinction in geologic times
B. a species extinction in recent history
C. a potential future extinction event
D. a species extinct in the wild
21. What is the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) Red List?
A. a comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of species
B. a list of building materials deemed harmful to living organisms
C. a list of 23 fish species or species groups in danger of extinction from fisheries or fish farms
D. a list of very high hazard chemicals
Correct Answer - A
Biodiversity and Habitat Loss – Middle School
22. What is the Hawaian crow an example of?
A. a species extinct in the wild
B. a species extinction in recent history
C. a mass extinction event
D. a potential future extinction event
23. Which act do the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency both administer?
A. the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
B. the Clean Water Act (CWA)
C. the Clean Air Act
D. the Energy Policy Act
24. What can the Endangered Species Act (ESA) require of private landowners, developers and businesses if an
endangered species if found on their property?
A. that they take reasonable steps to protect them
B. that they give their land to the government
C. nothing
D. that they move them to a safer location
25. In law, who owns wildlife in the U.S.?
A. the U.S. public as a whole
B. the person on whose land the wildlife lives
C. no one
D. only Native Americans can own wildlife
26. Which of these is an effect of gray wolves being re-introduced into Yellowstone in the 2000s?
A. beaver numbers increased
B. willow numbers decreased
C. elk increased
D. the rivers dried up
27. Who helps wild animals reproduce in safe enviroments like zoos or reserves and then releases them into the wild?
A. captive breeders
B. wildlife scientists
C. restoration ecologists
D. foresters
28. Who studies species in the wild to learn about their life cycles and habitat to provide information to manage them for
long term survival?
A. wildlife scientists
B. captive breeders
C. restoration ecologists
D. game wardens
Correct Answer - A
Biodiversity and Habitat Loss – Middle School
29. Who brings back natural ecosystems damaged by human activity or weather through active management (weeding,
planting, flooding, draining, burning, etc.) ?
A. restoration ecologists
B. captive breeders
C. wildlife scientists
D. foresters
30. Which of these is the main cause of extinction worldwide?
A. habitat loss
B. pollution
C. legal hunting
D. overfishing
31. The Biotic Index (BI) is used to tell whether a stream is healthy enough to support aquatic life. The index uses "b", a
value for the number of sensitive species, divided by " the total number of species. If b = 36 and a = 10, what does BI
equal?
A. 3.6
B. 36
C. 10
D. 0.28
32. The Biotic Index (BI) is used to tell whether a stream is healthy enough to support aquatic life. The index uses "b", a
value for the number of sensitive species, divided by "a", the total number of species. Which way should BI values go if
stream health improves?
A. up
B. down
C. they should stay about the same
D. the values will be random
Correct Answer - A