About 25 years ago, the crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) was introduced to Christmas Island (a 134 km2 island in the Indian Ocean). Despite accounting for less than 2% of the total biomass in the ecosystem, crazy ants drove the native red land crab extinct. The red land crab was the dominant consumer on the forest floor. By eliminating the land crab, crazy ants indirectly release seedling recruitment, enhance species richness of seedlings. In the forest canopy, new associations between this invasive ant and honeydew-secreting scale insects accelerated changes. Sustained high densities of foraging ants on canopy trees result in high population densities of host- generalist scale insects and growth of sooty molds, leading to the death of canopy trees. The total impact (Tli) of the crazy ant is 0.85. Based on this information, you can conclude that the crazy ant is: O both a keystone and a dominant species O both a keystone and a parasite species O a dominant species O a keystone species a narasite species

About 25 years ago, the crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) was introduced to Christmas Island (a 134 km2 island in the Indian Ocean). Despite accounting for less than 2% of the total biomass in the ecosystem, crazy ants drove the native red land crab extinct. The red land crab was the dominant consumer on the forest floor. By eliminating the land crab, crazy ants indirectly release seedling recruitment, enhance species richness of seedlings. In the forest canopy, new associations between this invasive ant and honeydew-secreting scale insects accelerated changes. Sustained high densities of foraging ants on canopy trees result in high population densities of host- generalist scale insects and growth of sooty molds, leading to the death of canopy trees. The total impact (Tli) of the crazy ant is 0.85. Based on this information, you can conclude that the crazy ant is: O both a keystone and a dominant species O both a keystone and a parasite species O a dominant species O a keystone species a narasite species

Biology: The Dynamic Science (MindTap Course List)

4th Edition

ISBN:9781305389892

Author:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan

Publisher:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan

Chapter53: Population Interactions And Community Ecology

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1ITD

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