Ecology Of Species Interactions 5

Question 1

Which of the following describes a defensive mutualism?

Accepted Answer

Acacia trees producing hollow thorns inhabited by ants that attack herbivores

Answer

Birds removing ticks from rhinoceros skin

Answer

Remora fish attaching to sharks to feed on scraps

Answer

Clownfish hiding among sea anemone tentacles

Question 2

An ecologist finds that when a competitively dominant species is removed from a community, species diversity increases. This removal experiment demonstrates:

Accepted Answer

Competitive exclusion in action

Answer

Succession

Answer

The intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Answer

Character displacement

Question 3

Character displacement refers to the evolutionary pattern where:

Accepted Answer

Competing species evolve greater differences in traits to reduce niche overlap

Answer

Competing species evolve greater similarity to share resources

Answer

Predators evolve to match prey coloration

Answer

Parasites evolve to reduce host mortality

Question 4

In host–parasite coevolution, the 'Red Queen hypothesis' predicts that:

Accepted Answer

Hosts and parasites must continuously evolve to maintain fitness relative to each other

Answer

Parasites eventually drive hosts to extinction

Answer

Mutualists outcompete parasites over evolutionary time

Answer

Genetic diversity in hosts decreases as parasites specialize

Question 5

Zoochory is a dispersal mechanism in which seeds are dispersed by:

Accepted Answer

Animals

Answer

Wind

Answer

Water

Answer

Explosive dehiscence

Question 6

The dilution effect in predator–prey ecology refers to:

Accepted Answer

Individual prey in larger groups each face lower per-capita predation risk

Answer

Predators becoming less effective as prey population size drops

Answer

Toxins in prey becoming diluted by body fluids and losing effectiveness

Answer

Predator populations becoming nutritionally diluted when prey quality declines

Question 7

Ectomycorrhizal fungi form associations primarily with trees in temperate forests. If a fungicide eliminated these fungi, the most direct effect would be:

Accepted Answer

Reduced phosphorus uptake and tree growth

Answer

Increased herbivory on tree leaves

Answer

Greater competition from understory shrubs for light

Answer

Accelerated decomposition of leaf litter