Exam 17: Mutualism

What condition of large mammals do oxpecker birds seek out?

Garlic mustard is a plant that has been introduced to North America. It produces a chemical that kills mycorrhizal fungi in the forest where it grows. How would killing mycorrhizal fungi affect native trees in the forest?

If you removed mutualistic ants from acacia trees, there would be

In the interaction between damselfish and cleaner fish, if a damselfish has few parasites, the cleaner fish will

If oxpecker birds went extinct, what would be the most likely consequence?

Which of the following statements about the mutualism between the yucca plant and the yucca moth is/are accurate? I. This is an obligate mutualism. II. Yucca moth caterpillars eat yucca seeds. III. Yucca moths pollinate yucca flowers.

Which of the following three interactions are mutualisms? I: Wasp and butterfly larvae. The wasp lays its eggs inside the body of a butterfly larva. The eggs hatch and the wasp larvae feed on the body of the butterfly larva. By the time the wasp larvae metamorphose from the butterfly larva, the butterfly larva is killed. II: Fig and fig wasp: The adult wasps crawl into the cluster of fig flowers to lay eggs. By moving around, the adult wasp pollinates the fig flowers, allowing them to produce fruit and seeds. As the fig fruit develops, it provides shelter for the wasp larvae. III: Ants and acacias: Acacia plants develop hollow thorns that provide shelter for ant colonies and produce nectaries on their leaves that provide food for ants. The ants defend the acacia plant from herbivores.

In Palmer's experimental manipulation of large herbivore abundance on acacia trees, he found that exclusion of large herbivores often caused the ant species Crematogaster mimosa to abandon acacia trees and the ant species C. sjostedti to move into acacia trees. What were the effects of the shift from C. mimosa to C. sjostedti on the acacia trees?

If yucca plants did not selectively abort flowers with many yucca moth eggs, over several generations the frequency of moths that lay many eggs will likely

When two species have evolved a mutualistic relationship, if one species begins to provide less of a benefit, we predict that the other species will

A gardener grows pea plants in two pots. One pot has a low amount of ammonia in the soil, while the other pot has normal levels of ammonia. Which group of pea plants would benefit the most from the addition of Rhizobium bacteria to the soil? Explain your answer.

Cattle egrets are birds that often follow herds of mammals. As the mammals walk through vegetation, insects fly into the air, where the egrets catch them. Is the relationship between cattle egrets and mammals a mutualism? Explain your answer.

Consider a simple food web consisting of plants, aphids, ants, and ladybird beetles. Aphids are herbivores that consume the plants, and ladybird beetles are a predator that eats aphids. The ants obtain nutritious honeydew from the aphids, and in return the ants protect the aphids from predatory insects. What is likely to happen to the ladybird beetles, aphids, and plants if the ants go extinct?

Which of the following situations is/are likely to cause a mutualistic relationship to change to a parasitic or predatory relationship? I. A damselfish has no parasites for a cleaner fish to eat. II. Acacia plants provide nectar to ants living in their thorns. III. A plant and its mycorrhizal fungi are living in nutrient-rich soil.

If cleaner fish went extinct, damselfish would

You are studying a plant species that has a fungus growing in its roots. You remove the fungus and evaluate what happens to the plant. Which outcome indicates a mutualistic relationship?

Plants like beans, peas, and alfalfa (legumes) form a mutualistic relationship with

(Figure 17.18) A group of researchers grew plants so that half of their roots were in soil with a fungus that provides benefits to the plants and the other half were in soil with a fungus that did not provide benefits to the plants. After 9 weeks of growth, they provided the plants with carbon dioxide containing a rare isotope of carbon. For four days, they evaluated how much of the carbon went to the beneficial fungus and how much of the carbon went to the nonbeneficial fungus. Some of their results are presented in the figure. Which statement(s) about this experiment is/are CORRECT? I. At the experiment's start, the nonbeneficial fungus was taking resources from the plant. II. After 4 days, the plant provided more resources to the beneficial fungus. III. This is an example of how species can prevent cheating in mutualisms.

(Figure 17.22) Researchers manipulated the number of species of mycorrhizal fungi living in the soil and measured the effects on plant biomass and phosphorus uptake. Their results are shown in the figure. Based on their results, the most likely way the extinction of mycorrhizal fungi species would affect the ecosystem is to

If Rhizobium bacteria were to go extinct, plants would