BIOA02H3 Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Study Guide
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BIOA02H3 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Floral nectar attracts pollinators, animals that plant relies on in order to reproduce. Extrafloral nectars are grown on their non-reproductive (vegetative parts) to attract ants to find food and nesting sites. Ants patrol plants and attack herbivores, pathogens and competing plants. Mutualism exists between host plant and ant species. Ant-hosting plants depend on a single ant species. Plants ensure attraction of the right host species by controlling the composition of nectars. Community is the area where species live and interact with other biotic and abiotic factors. 2 theories about nature of communities: communities are loose assemblages of species. Each species was individually distributed according to its unique interactions with physical environment: communities are tightly integrated. Communities in similar environments would have the same species composition unless they had been recently disturbed. Different combinations of plant species are found at different locations. Species enter and drop out of communities independently over environmental gradients.
