Tropical Ecology Exam 2

michelleburkee2's version from 2015-04-13 18:50

Section 1

Question Answer
What do leaf cutter ants feed on?fungi
How does an antbird benefit from raiding a colony of army ants?The army ants flush out insects and the antbirds eat the insects
The pseudomyrmex ant has a mutualistic relationship with the bullhorn acacia plant. give a specific exmaple of how they each benefit from the relationshipThe ant gets free food and the plant gets protection
what type of animal might benefit from a tapetum?nocturnal animal
What is the reason that a neotropical migrant come north in the springtime?there is more food, more sun, and they can mate there.
what is clutch size?how many eggs they can lay
what did Darwin not know with his theory of natural selection?What caused variation, which was DNA
What is the benefit of mixed species forgaging flocks?better protection from predators
the seperation of Magagascar led toAllopatric speciation
What is productivity hypothesis?High production of glucose (photosynthesis) accomadates more species
importance of ants in the Neotropicsmake up a large amount of biomass in the tropics and they touch the lives of almost everything that lives in the tropics.
leaf cutter ants behaviorsmallest worker takes care of the eggs and larvae and create fungi mulch, larger worker forages for food, soldiers defend the colony, and queen.
what are extrafloral plant nectariesParts of a plant, not involved with pollination that produce nectar in order to maintain mutualistic relationships with other organisms.
How do extrafloral plant nectaries establish a mutualistic relationship?Plants benefit from ants because the ants are drawn to the nectar will also eat the eggs of other insects they encounter. Some ants are also very protective and will chase off herbivorous insects because they are very territorial.
What is the kind of relationsip between Acacia plants and Pseudomyrmex antsmutualistic
How does the Acacia plant and the Pseudomyrmex ant have a mutualistic relationship?The ant’s shelter and food is taken care of by the tree so the ants protect this tree. The ants also remove the climbing vines that threaten bullhorn acacias, and may remove all vegetation within several yards of the tree. This reduces competition and reduces the risk of fire damage. Acacia plants can protect themselves, but it is less costly for them to provide nectaries and have the ants protect them.
Cercropia trees and Azteca antsThese ants will protect it from herbivorous insects and will defend the tree. The ants are fed by the tree.
Strategy of Army Antswhen ant comes across meat, it will inject it with her sting that releases a pheromone to let the other members of the colony know where it is. They move in and rip it apart to transport it.
What are the castes of the Army Antssmall-sized workers, medium-sized workers, soldier, and queen
what is the role of the small-sized worker Army Ant?The ant hold down the preys limbs so that other ants can rip it apart
What is the role of the medium-sized worker Army Ant?pinches the flesh and injects it with the alerting pheremone
What is the role of the soldier Army Ant?transports large parts back to colony
What is the role of the Queen rmy ant?lays eggs
what is the nesting behavior of the army ants?the nests are made up of the ants themselves
what is the hunting behavior of the army ants?hunt in raids
What are oppurtunisitc "camp followers" Many other insects follow the colonies collecting the leftovers
How do some insects become undetected "camp followers"they adopt the same pheremone as the army ants
How does the Bristly tachanid act as a camp follower to army antswhen a grasshopper or katydid leaps to escape the ants, the fly’s go after it, hoping to glue an egg on to its body. If the fly is successful, the egg will hatch into a larva that burrows into the flesh of the hopper and consumes it from the inside out.
How does the iithmid butterfly act as a camp follower?eat Ant bird’s nitrogen rich droppings
Reproductive strategies of Neotropical frogslay eggs in water, puddles, seasonal ponds, tree cavities, or on leaves overhanging streams
Reasons for scarcity of frogspredators
frogs are hard to find when there is a(n) __________ of speciesabundance
Role of Aposematic coloring in frogspredators do not want to eat them
Frog secretions thick mucus from skin helps eggs when they are laid not dry out before hatched
what is the importance of the tapetum?it allows nocturnal animals to see in the night time
who uses Anticogulants?bats
How are anticogulants used?Vampire bats will make an incision when they bite and release an anticoagulant to keep blood flowing
how can pit vipers see in the night time?they have pits inbetween their eyes and nose that are sensitive to infared radiation, which allows them to see warm blooded prey

Section 2

Question Answer
What adaptation do pit vipers have?they can see in the nighttime
what do specialized teeth of reptiles do?to inject venom into prey
what is a Neotropical migrant?A bird that spends the summer in its breeding range in North America but migrates to Central or South America for its nonbreeding range in the winter
what are traits of a Neotropical migrant?Lack permanent bonds, opportunistic, evolutionary strategy: element of risk, undertake long migrations, not attached to one place.
What are traits of a full time resident?Close to home, become familiar with a particular area, guard it, cannot come and go as they please
Why do neotropical migrants migrate?Availability of Prey/Resources and High Productivity Burst
What is a mixed species foraging flock?A mixed bird wave of insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while hunting.
What is a startle display?a display to get away / defend themselves from predators
What is an example of a startle display?eye spots or a colorful flash before making their exit
What is the primary defense mechanism of insects?camoflauge
what is the secondary defense mechanism of insects?startle display
What is a search image?Behavioral mechanism that allows birds to select particular prey items from a visually complex environment; allows birds to focus on a narrow set of targets
Why do frogs have toxins?to defend themselves
Where do frog toxins come from?skin glands produce the toxins
What do toxic frogs look like?They are brightly colored
Batesian mimicryAnimals that that don’t contain toxins or other defense mechanisms evolve the same look of predators without actually evolving those mechanisms
Mullerian mimicryOne poisonous species resembles another poisonous species; Rare poisonous species mimic the more common poisonous species so that the more rare species does not get eaten
The Stability in the tropics does not explain __________origin of diversity
The stability in the tropics explains the _________maintnence of diversity
The refuge theory does not theory cannot account for the immense number of species that can be found in any patch of tropical rain forest.
Stability-time hypothesisThe length of time and the stability of an ecosystem gives species more time to evolve.
Lower extinction rate has led to _____more diversity in species
Interspecific Competiton Hypthesis Interspecific competition is kept to a minimum which gives room for more species.
What is an example of Interspecific Competition hypothesis Ocelot vs. Margay. Both are Cats that feed on the same prey (rodents, birds, and snakes). The Ocelot lives on the ground and the Margay lives in the trees. This is an example of interspecific competition being kept to a minimum.
Productivity-Resoucres hypotheis to explain high diversity in the tropics is that high productivity permits more species to be accommodated
Homologous organs Similar organs that show an evolutionary link
What is an example of homologous organshuman arm, cat arm, whale fin, bat wing have same bone structure but different functions
Vestigial organs structures that have no use to us anymore, they have not disappeared because nothing is selecting against them. They did serve a function for distant ancestors.
Example of vestigial organsappendix to humans
Endemic speciesSpecies that are unique to a certain geographical area
Artifical selection exampledog breeding
what are the six steps of natural selection All organism tend to over reproduce, there is variation among species, there is a competition for resources, those individuals with traits best suited for that environment will have a selective advantage , favorable traits are passed on to future generations, an accumulation of favorable traits
Fossil recordsThere is a pattern that provides strong evidence of evolutionary change.
BiogeographyThe study of the distribution of life on earth.
SpeciesA group of naturally occurring organisms who have the potential to interbreed with one another and produce fertile offspring.
Climate change in tropics leads to _________refuge hypothesis

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