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Ch. 52 - Community Ecology

Chapter 51, Problem 11

The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata ('fanged pitcher plant') has a unique relationship with a species of ant—Camponotus schmitzi ('diving ant'). The diving ants are not digested by the pitcher plants, but instead live on the plants and consume nectar. Diving ants also dive into the digestive juices in the pitcher, swim to the bottom, and capture and consume trapped insects, leaving uneaten body parts and ant feces behind. What nutritional impact do the ants have on fanged pitcher plants? Do the pitcher plants derive any nutritional benefit from this relationship? Based only on the information provided here, make a prediction on the effect of diving ants on overall pitcher plant growth.

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Hello everyone here We have a question that says hummingbirds are pollinators. This means that when a hummingbird visits a flower in search of food, it rubs up against the flowers, male parts and spreads pollen all over itself. The pond gets transferred to the female components of the new bloom. When it buzzes off to the next blossom, we can infer from these observations that hummingbirds and flowering pants have the falling relationship. So let's go through our answers. We have a mutual ism and mutual is um Both parties benefit. We have b commence Soliz um in commence cell is um one partner is benefitted while the other is not harmed or benefited. And and see parasitism and depredation. One partner is harmed while the other is benefited so because the hummingbirds are pollinating its food. This is an example of a mutual ism because both parties are benefiting. Thank you for watching. Bye.
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Textbook Question

The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata ('fanged pitcher plant') has a unique relationship with a species of ant—Camponotus schmitzi ('diving ant'). The diving ants are not digested by the pitcher plants, but instead live on the plants and consume nectar. Diving ants also dive into the digestive juices in the pitcher, swim to the bottom, and capture and consume trapped insects, leaving uneaten body parts and ant feces behind. What nutritional impact do the ants have on fanged pitcher plants? Do the pitcher plants derive any nutritional benefit from this relationship? Researchers tested the hypothesis that the relationship between diving ants and pitcher plants is mutualistic (i.e., both species derive a nutritional benefit). To do so, they compared leaf surface area (as a measure of overall growth) in two sets of pitcher plants: plants with diving ants and plants without. The results are shown in the graph. The P values indicate whether there is a significant relationship between the size of the host plants and the surface area of the host plants' leaves. Based on this graph, what conclusions can be drawn about the impact of diving ants on overall plant growth?

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