Exam 16: Competition

You are studying the competitive interactions between two desert plant species, the prickly pear cactus and the ocotillo. During your research, you discover that the ocotillo produces a flower that is preferentially consumed by mule deer, a major desert herbivore. When the deer population is large and has consumed most of the available ocotillo flowers, it eats the flowers of the prickly pear cactus, which reduces the prickly pear's fecundity. Further, you know that the ocotillo and prickly pear compete for water, nutrients, and light. You also discover that the prickly pear secretes a chemical into the soil that inhibits the growth and survival of the ocotillo. For each of these examples of competition between the prickly pear cactus and the ocotillo, name and describe what type of competitive interaction is taking place.

What type of competition is allelopathy?

When long-legged ants plug the nest entrances of red harvester ants with which they compete for seeds, it is called

In experiments with competitive barnacle species distributed along upper and lower intertidal zones, researchers found a trade-off between ability to _____ and ability to _____.

In the example of competition dynamics with longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and other woody plants, fire suppression

If an individual of species 2 has a greater effect on species 1 than the reverse, which of the following would be TRUE?

Distantly related species are most likely to compete if they