Question 1
What is genetic diversity?
A.
The variety of ecosystems present in a geographical region
B.
The number of ecological processes occurring in a habitat
C.
The number of different species and their relative abundance in a community
D.
The variety of alleles and genotypes within a species or population
Question 2
What is the most direct anthropogenic cause of extinction when organisms are removed faster than reproduction can replace them?
A.
Ecosystem succession
B.
Over-exploitation
C.
Adaptive radiation
D.
Temporal isolation
Question 3
What was the main anthropogenic driver of collapse of the Aral Sea ecosystem?
A.
Hunting of keystone marine mammals
B.
Introduction of a predatory fish species
C.
Acidification by volcanic gases
D.
Diversion of inflowing rivers for irrigation
Question 4
What is an example of in situ conservation?
A.
Storing seeds of a threatened plant in a seed bank
B.
Breeding an endangered frog in a zoo laboratory
C.
Keeping tissue samples from a rare tree in liquid nitrogen
D.
Protecting a coral reef community within a marine reserve
Question 5
A single survey of a grassland records 18 plant species. Why is this insufficient evidence for a biodiversity decline?
A.
Change requires comparable repeated surveys over time
B.
Species richness cannot be measured in grassland ecosystems
C.
Only genetic diversity can be used as evidence of biodiversity change
D.
Citizen scientists cannot collect data used in biodiversity studies
Question 6
What is the overarching cause that increases demand for land, water, food, energy and materials in the current biodiversity crisis?
A.
Storage of germ plasm
B.
Human population growth
C.
Classification by splitters
D.
Peer review of published surveys
Question 7
What is the rationale for prioritizing EDGE species for conservation?
A.
They are species that reproduce rapidly in captivity
B.
They are both evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered
C.
They are common species that maintain high biomass in ecosystems
D.
They are species found only in national parks
Question 8
Two forest fragments have the same number of tree species. Fragment X has similar numbers of individuals in each species, whereas fragment Y is dominated by one species. Which statement is correct?
A.
Fragment X has lower species richness than fragment Y
B.
Fragment Y has higher ecosystem diversity than fragment X
C.
Fragment X has higher species evenness than fragment Y
D.
Fragment Y has higher genetic diversity than fragment X
Question 9
Why can drainage of peat swamp forest lead to long-term ecosystem loss?
A.
It prevents conversion to oil palm plantations
B.
It increases genetic diversity of dipterocarp trees
C.
It raises the water table and prevents decomposition
D.
It lowers the water table, increasing peat decomposition and fire risk
Question 10
A threatened tree has orthodox seeds that remain viable after drying and storage at low temperature. Which conservation approach is most directly described?
A.
Rewilding
B.
Nature reserve management
C.
Seed-bank storage of germ plasm
D.
Biological control by invasive species
Question 11
A taxonomist recognizes several genetically distinct island populations as separate species, although they look similar. What term best describes this taxonomic approach?
A.
Splitting
B.
Lumping
C.
Rewilding
D.
Reclamation
Question 12
A biodiversity survey based on a phone app has many records near roads but few records in remote areas. What is the main methodological concern?
A.
Species richness cannot be estimated from public observations
B.
Peer review cannot be used for citizen-science data
C.
Photographic validation always reduces sample size to zero
D.
Sampling effort is uneven across the study region
Question 13
In Simpson’s reciprocal index, , what change generally increases ?
A.
Counting only the most abundant species in the sample
B.
Higher richness and more even distribution of individuals among species
C.
The same total number of organisms concentrated in one species
D.
Lower richness and stronger dominance by one species
Question 14
A species is the only surviving member of an ancient clade but is not currently threatened. How would the EDGE programme treat it?
A.
It would be ranked only by its economic value
B.
It would be ignored because clades are not used in conservation
C.
It would automatically have high EDGE priority because it is evolutionarily distinct
D.
It would not be an EDGE species unless it is also globally endangered
Question 15
An introduced snake reaches an island without native mammalian predators and causes rapid decline of nesting birds. What mechanism best explains the native bird losses?
A.
Predation by an invasive alien species
B.
Loss of biodiversity by taxonomic lumping
C.
Pollution through nutrient enrichment
D.
Ex situ conservation of reptiles
Question 16
Why are estimates of total prokaryote species number especially uncertain?
A.
Prokaryotes have no genetic variation
B.
Classification is never used for bacteria
C.
Many prokaryotes cannot be cultured easily and species definitions are difficult
D.
All prokaryotes are extinct in the fossil record
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