Species-Area Relationship - Unsolved Practice Set
Chapter: Biodiversity and Conservation | Topic: Species Area Relationship
SPECIES-AREA RELATIONSHIP - UNSOLVED PRACTICE SET
Topic: Species Area Relationship
Multiple Choice Questions
Q1. The species-area relationship describes how, in general, species richness in a given region tends to:
- Decrease as the area surveyed increases
- Increase as the area surveyed increases, though at a gradually decreasing rate
- Remain completely constant regardless of area
- Show no consistent relationship with area at all
Q2. When plotted on a graph, the species-area relationship typically appears as a curve that:
- Rises steeply and then declines sharply
- Rises initially and then gradually flattens out as area increases
- Remains a perfectly straight horizontal line
- Decreases continuously with increasing area
Q3. The mathematical relationship describing species-area curves is generally expressed as:
- S = C + Z + A
- log S = log C + Z log A
- S = A/C only, with no exponent
- A relationship with no mathematical basis
Q4. In the species-area equation, the value "Z" represents:
- The total species richness
- The slope of the line, indicating the rate at which species richness increases with area
- The total area surveyed
- A constant with no ecological meaning
Q5. Understanding the species-area relationship is particularly useful for:
- Predicting weather patterns
- Conservation planning, such as estimating the impact of habitat loss on species richness
- Calculating population growth rates
- Determining genetic diversity within a species
Short Answer Questions
Q6. Define the species-area relationship, in your own words.
Q7. Describe the general shape of a typical species-area curve when plotted graphically.
Q8. What does the value "Z" represent in the species-area equation (log S = log C + Z log A)?
Q9. Why is understanding the species-area relationship considered important for conservation planning?
Long Answer Questions
Q10. Explain the species-area relationship in detail, describing how species richness typically changes as the area surveyed increases, and the mathematical relationship used to describe this pattern.
Q11. Discuss the significance of the species-area relationship for conservation efforts, explaining how it can help predict the potential impact of habitat destruction on biodiversity.
APPLICATION / ANALYSIS
Q12. A team of ecologists surveys increasingly larger plots of forest and finds that species richness rises quickly at first with small increases in area, but the rate of increase slows considerably once the plots become very large. Explain this observed pattern using your understanding of the species-area relationship.
Q13. Using the species-area relationship, conservationists predict that reducing a forest's area by half could result in a significant loss of species richness, even if the remaining habitat is otherwise undisturbed. Explain, using your understanding of this relationship, why simply preserving a smaller fragment of a habitat may not be sufficient to maintain the original level of biodiversity.