Chapter 56
1. An endemic species is one that
a. is found only in one region.
b. evolved in the region where it currently lives.
c. occurs in two distinct areas separated by a barrier.
d. has a good fossil record showing its evolution.
e. disperses readily from one area to another.
Answer: a
2. Australia has a greater percentage of endemic species than other continents because it
a. lies near several large chains of islands.
b. has more varied habitats than other continents.
c. has been isolated for the longest time due to continental drift.
d. lacks a region near the equator.
e. has received many immigrant species due to prevailing ocean currents.
Answer: c
3. The island biogeographic model describes the relationship between the number of
species on an island and its
a. climate and vicariant events.
b. size and distance from the mainland.
c. species pool.
d. rate of extinction.
e. elevation and shape.
Answer: b
4. The poles are cooler than the equator because
a. the equator receives more hours of sunlight than the poles do.
b. the equator is closer to the sun than the poles are.
c. the angle at which the sun strikes Earth.
d. the long polar nights cool Earth much more than the short equatorial nights do.
e. winds tend to move heat from the poles toward the equator.
Answer: c
5. It tends to rain more in the mountains than in adjacent lowlands because
a. as air travels up mountains, it cools. Cool air holds less moisture than warm air does,
and the excess moisture is dropped as rain.
b. as air travels up the mountains, it is compressed. The mountains squeeze the water out
of the air, and the water falls as rain.
c. of their great height. Mountains are often in the clouds, and precipitation is much
greater in these clouds.
d. as air moves down mountains, it expands and does not form clouds, so no rainfall
occurs.
e. the rainfall is equal in both mountains and lowlands; however, because the rain has
farther to travel from clouds to the lowlands, more evaporates before reaching the ground
in the lowlands.
Answer: a
6. A common ecosystem on the leeward (away from the wind) side of mountains and also
at 30° north or south latitude is
a. a coniferous forest.
b. a desert.
c. a rainforest.
d. a peatland.
e. tundra.
Answer: b
7. A traveler starting out in Michigan and traveling toward the North Pole would
encounter which of the following biomes, in which order?
a. Temperate deciduous forest, boreal forest, tundra
b. Chaparral, temperate deciduous forest, boreal forest
c. Savanna, boreal forest, chaparral
d. Temperate grassland, boreal forest, tundra
e. Boreal forest, tundra, chaparral
Answer: a
8. Which of the following biomes lacks a pronounced seasonal variation in the amount of
precipitation?
a. Tropical deciduous forest
b. Thorn forest
c. Tundra
d. Chaparral
Answer: c
9. A vicariant distribution is one determined by
a. separation of formerly contiguous land masses by a barrier.
b. dispersal.
c. extinction and recolonization.
d. adaptive radiation.
e. interbreeding of two similar species.
Answer: a
10. This biome is characterized by cold temperatures, permafrost, and little rainfall. It is
found in the Arctic and in high mountains at all latitudes.
a. Tundra
b. Boreal forest
c. Tropical evergreen forest
d. Temperate grassland
e. Chaparral
Answer: a
11. This is the richest of all biomes in species of both plants and animals, and it has the
highest overall energy flow of all ecological communities. The soils in this biome are
usually poor, however, as most of the nutrients are tied up in the vegetation.
a. Tundra
b. Boreal forest
c. Tropical evergreen forest
d. Temperate grassland
e. Chaparral
Answer: c
12. This biome is found in coastal California among other places. The dominant
vegetation is low-growing shrubs with evergreen leaves.
a. Tundra
b. Boreal forest
c. Tropical evergreen forest
d. Temperate grassland
e. Chaparral
Answer: e
13. Rain shadows form when air cools and drops rain on the ________________ side of a
mountain or barrier.
a. windward
b. windward
c. leeward
d. leeward
e. eastward
Answer: a
14. Australia has been separated from other continents for about 65 million years. South
America has been isolated from other continents for about 60 million years. North
America and Eurasia have been joined for much of Earth’s history. Which continents
would you expect to have the most similar biota?
a. Australia and South America
b. North and South America
c. North America and Eurasia
d. Australia and both North and South America
e. Australia and both North America and Eurasia
Answer: c
15. Based on your knowledge of the history of continental drift on Earth, which of the
following pairs of biogeographic regions should have the most similar fauna?
a. Palearctic and Ethiopian
b. Ethiopian and Neotropical
c. Nearctic and Neotropical
d. Australasian, Neotropical
e. Oriental and Ethiopian
Answer: b
16. Using the model of island biogeography developed by Robert MacArthur and E. O.
Wilson, which of the following can be predicted?
a. Species composition on an island
b. Which species will become extinct
c. Which species will arrive
d. Species richness, given island size
e. Rate of evolution of endemic species
Answer: d
17. Select the biome that is dominated by coniferous, evergreen trees with short growing
seasons.
a. Tundra
b. Boreal forest
c. Temperate deciduous forest
d. Temperate grassland
e. Cold desert
Answer: b
18. Select the biome that is characterized by the presence of permafrost and high latitude
or altitude distribution.
a. Tundra
b. Boreal forest
c. Temperate deciduous forest
d. Temperate grassland
e. Cold desert
Answer: a
19. Select the biome that has a wide flucuation of temperatures, precipitation that is
evenly distributed year-round, and trees that lose their leaves.
a. Tundra
b. Boreal forest
c. Temperate deciduous forest
d. Temperate grassland
e. Hot desert
Answer: c
20. Select the biome characterized by the greatest species richness and the highest energy
flow.
a. Chaparral
b. Thorn forest
c. Tropical savanna
d. Tropical deciduous forest
e. Tropical evergreen forest
Answer: e
21. In comparing an acre of land in Colombia to an acre of land in Michigan, which of
the following would not differ?
a. The angle of the sun reaching the ground in the month of July
b. The solar energy flux in the month of July
c. The annual solar energy flux
d. The total hours of daylight per year
Answer D
22. Which of the following comparisons of freshwater and marine habitats is not true?
a. About 10 percent of all aquatic species live in fresh- water habitats.
b. There are many more insect species in freshwater habitats than in marine habitats.
c. The global volume of marine habitats is much greater than that of freshwater habitats.
d. Freshwater species richness is less than marine species richness in proportion to the
relative extent of the two habitats.
Answer D
23. Which of the following locations would you expect to have the least number of
species?
a. Mountainous forest area on a mainland.
b. Mountainous forest on an island close to the main land.
c. Mountainous forest on an isolated island far away from the mainland.
Answer C
24.Ecosystem types that are based on the structure of their dominant vegetation are called
a.populations.
b.biomes.
c.habitats.
d.interoceanic convergence zones.
e.climate models.
Answer: b
25.Which of the following biomes will you most likely pass through if you travel from a
high-latitude tundra to a temperate deciduous forest?
a. Boreal forest
b. Hot desert
c. Chaparral
d. Thorn forest
e. Tropical deciduous forest
Answer: a