Exam 17: Mutualism

Describe why the relationship between the pitcher plant (Nepenthes lowii) on the island of Borneo and the mountain tree shrew is considered to be an example of mutualism.

A specialist is a mutualist that

A mutualist that interacts with many other species is a

Consider a species of fig tree that is pollinated by a single species of wasp. Without the wasp, the fig tree will not produce seeds. Without the fig tree, the wasp will not produce offspring. The relationship between these species is an example of

The difference between ectomycorrhizal fungi and endomycorrhizal fungi has to do with

Which of the following are specialists that form a mutualism? I. Honeybees pollinate many species of flower. II. The crayfish snake eats only crayfish. III. The yucca plant is pollinated by a single species of moth.

The seeds of plants are moved to new areas by many animals, including birds, mammals, and insects. What benefit do animals gain from the plant in this mutualism?

Oxpeckers are African birds that fly around large mammals and pick at both ticks and wounds on the animals. Scientists have debated whether oxpeckers are parasites or mutualists with large mammals. Draw bar graphs in the blank figures to show the relationships if oxpeckers are mutualists with large mammals. Plot a should show the abundance of ticks on large mammals in two conditions: if oxpeckers are present and if oxpeckers are absent. Plot b should show the number of offspring produced by oxpeckers if they are nesting near mammals with many ticks or nesting near mammals with few ticks. Explain why your drawings are consistent with mutualism.

(Figure 17.20) Researchers experimentally removed cleaner fish from some coral reef communities and left cleaner fish present in other communities. Their results are shown in the figure. Based on these results, extinction of cleaner fish would result in _____ fish species, and each species would be _____ abundant.

Which of the following are benefits that many mutualists provide one another? I. shelter II. protection from predators III. nutrients

Which of the following statements about the hyphae of ectomycorrhizal fungi are correct? I. They provide plants with minerals and water from the soil. II. They obtain sugars that plants produce by photosynthesis. III. They grow between root cells.

Coral and zooxanthellae algae have a mutualism in which coral provide shelter for algae. What do algae provide for coral?

Why is the relationship between termites and the gut protozoans considered mutualism?

Ants are often associated with aphids, small insects that feed on plants. The ants obtain nutritious honeydew from the aphids, and in return the ants protect the aphids from predatory insects. If the mutualism between aphids and ants broke down such that the ants no longer protected the aphids,

Endophytic fungi

Biologists have recently introduced wild turkeys and Aldabra tortoises to the islands of Mauritius. How have these introductions affected native plants of Mauritius?

What benefit do Pseudomyrmex ants obtain from their mutualism with acacia trees? I. shelter in hollow thorns II. food from nectaries III. nitrogen from atmospheric sources

In the interaction between yucca plants and yucca moths, yucca moths pollinate flowers and lay eggs in the flowers. If many eggs are laid in a flower, the yucca moth caterpillar will eat all the seeds. Explain why the relationship is considered a mutualism, even though the caterpillars eat the seeds. Be sure to discuss how both the yucca and yucca moth gain fitness benefits from this interaction.

The yucca moth

Which would be a reason to use a Mann-Whitney rank sum test rather than a t-test to compare two groups?