Chapter 22 Geographic Ecology
1. A positive relationship between area and species diversity is commonly observed for
a) oceanic islands.
b) lakes.
c) wooded mountaintops in the American Southwest.
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
Answer: D
2. In the American Southwest, forest habitats
a) currently extend unbroken between mountaintops over thousands of km.
b) have never extended unbroken between mountaintops.
c) last extended unbroken between mountaintops in the Cretaceous.
d) last extended unbroken between mountaintops in the Permian.
e) last extended unbroken between mountaintops in the Pleistocene.
Answer: E
3. For aquatic organisms,
a) drainage lakes are more isolated than seepage lakes.
b) seepage lakes are more isolated than drainage lakes.
c) seepage and drainage lakes are equally isolated.
d) seepage lakes include more habitat area than drainage lakes.
e) because they have stream inlets and outlets, seepage lakes include more habitat types
than drainage lakes.
Answer: B
4. Birds on oceanic islands have highest diversity on
a) large islands close to the mainland.
b) large islands far from the mainland.
c) small islands close to the mainland.
d) small islands far from the mainland.
e) small islands of recent geologic origin.
Answer: A
5. Ferns often maintain high diversity even on very isolated islands. This is because
a) ferns are often planted deliberately by human colonists.
b) ferns are often introduced accidentally by human colonists.
c) ferns are easily dispersed by light wind-blown spores.
d) ferns are easily dispersed because birds carry their seeds.
e) new fern species most often evolve on isolated islands.
Answer: C
6. The equilibrium model of island biogeography explains diversity on islands as a
balance between
a) speciation and extinction.
b) immigration and extinction.
c) speciation and emigration.
d) immigration and emigration.
e) speciation and immigration.
Answer: B
7. MacArthur and Wilson hypothesized that larger islands would experience more
extinction events because more species present means
a) more chances for extinctions.
b) more likelihood of competitive exclusion.
c) smaller population size of each.
d) all of the above
e) Only more chances for extinctions and smaller population size of each.
Answer: D
8. In the equilibrium model of island biogeography, the immigration rate to an island is
assumed to depend mainly on
a) distance from sources of migrants.
b) island size.
c) extinction rate.
d) extent of introductions by human colonists.
e) existence or lack of a climax community.
Answer: A
9. The equilibrium model of island biogeography predicts that, once equilibrium is
reached, an island will be occupied
a) by an unchanging set of species as extinctions and immigrations stop.
b) by an unchanging number of species, but extinctions and immigrations will continue.
c) by a steadily increasing number of species.
d) by a steadily decreasing number of species.
e) only by species that evolved on that island.
Answer: B
10. Daniel Simberloff studied recolonization by
a) birds on California islands after defaunation by storms.
b) birds on California islands after defaunation by experimental fumigation.
c) arthropods on Florida mangrove islands after defaunation by storms.
d) arthropods on Florida mangrove islands after defaunation by experimental fumigation.
e) small mammals on desert mountaintops after defaunation by climate change.
Answer: D
11. A 100-year record of the colonization of Swedish islands by plants shows
a) a diversity-area relationship becoming evident only after many years of colonization.
b) a diversity-area relationship established early in colonization, but disappearing as
smaller islands “caught up.”
c) diversity increasing to equilibrium on large islands, but equilibrium not yet reached on
smaller ones.
d) diversity increasing to equilibrium on small islands, but not on large ones.
e) diversity increasing rapidly to equilibrium on all islands.
Answer: C
12. For most groups, species diversity most often
a) increases from the tropics to the poles.
b) increases from the poles to the tropics.
c) is low at the equator and the poles, and peaks at temperate latitudes.
d) is high at the equator and the poles, and lowest at temperate latitudes.
e) shows no clear relationship with latitude.
Answer: B
13. A well-known exception to the usual dependency of diversity on latitude is the
___________ wasps.
Answer: ichneumonid
14. The “time since perturbation” hypothesis proposes that, compared to temperate and
polar regions, the tropics are
a) more diverse because they are disturbed less frequently.
b) more diverse because they are disturbed more severely by cooling during glaciations.
c) less diverse because they are disturbed more severely by cooling during glaciations.
d) more diverse because they are less heterogeneous in habitat.
e) more diverse because humans have not yet had much impact there.
Answer: A
15. Diversity tends to increase with productivity, both in surveys across habitats and in
experimental manipulations within habitats.
Answer: F
16. The largest fraction of land area on Earth is found in the
a) tropics.
b) temperate zone.
c) boreal forests.
d) tundra.
e) Southern hemisphere.
Answer: A
17. Among the major regions of Mediterranean woodlands and shrublands, diversity is
a) highest in California, which has the largest area.
b) highest in California, although it has the smallest area.
c) highest in the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Province, which has the largest area.
d) highest in the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Province, although it has the smallest area.
e) roughly equal across regions, even though they differ in area.
Answer: D
18. Temperate tree diversity is higher in Europe than in North America, because North
American trees have been subject to many more glacial extinctions.
Answer: F
19. The network of satellites allowing a handheld receiver to determine latitude,
longitude, and altitude is known as a ______________.
Answer: global positioning system
20. Remote sensing of chlorophyll a concentrations in the Earth’s oceans has revealed
that marine plankton biomass is
a) nearly homogenous over huge expanses of ocean.
b) highest in the open ocean.
c) highest in the warmest waters.
d) highest in the deepest waters.
e) highest in cooler, upwelling areas near shore.
Answer: E
21. Computer software programs for storing, analyzing, and displaying geographicallystructured data are known as _______________.
Answer: geographic information systems