Animal and Plant Behavior

Animal and Plant Behavior

Topics we will cover:

• Limiting factors

• Animal behavior within a population

• Animal behavior within a community

• Other animal behaviors

• Plant tropisms

• Plant dormancy

• Plant competition

Limiting Factors

Limiting factors are defined as factors in the ecosystems that limit the growth of a population. A few examples of limiting factors are food, water, shelter, diseases, and disasters.

Multiple Choice

Limiting factors limit the growth of a population. Another way of saying this is that limiting factors keep a population from

• decreasing

• increasing

• staying the same

Multiple Choice

True or False

Severe weather would NOT be a limiting factor.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False

Amount of space can be a limiting factor.

• True

• False

Consider this!

Many of the behaviors we are going to explore happen because of limiting factors. What limiting factor might lead to these two antelope fighting?

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the interaction in which organisms within a population are ranked and have specific roles?

• competition

• cooperation

• social hierarchy

• territorial imperative

Multiple Choice

The anole, a type of lizard, engages in a type of dance and flashes its red dulap. This behavior is an example of ____________.

• competition

• cooperation

• social heirarchy

• territorial imperative

Multiple Choice

When individuals within a population are trying to get the same resources such as food or water, it is called _______________.

• competition

• cooperation

• social hierarchy

• territorial imperative

Open Ended

Name something that animals compete for.

Multiple Choice

Did you know that termites live in social groups? They have a queen, king, workers, and soldiers. This would be an example of ___________.

• competition

• cooperation

• social hierarchy

• territorial imperative

Multiple Choice

Your dog has an infestation of fleas. The type of symbiosis this illustrates is ___________.

• mutualism

• commensalism

• parasitism

Multiple Choice

This bird has built a nest in a saguaro cactus. While the bird gets shelter, the cactus is neither helped nor harmed. This is an example of __________________.

• mutualism

• commensalism

• parasatism

Multiple Choice

The wasp is the ___________.

• predator

• host

• parasite

• prey

Multiple Choice

The cochroach is the _______.

• predator

• host

• prey

• parasite

Multiple Select

Kudzu is nicknamed "the vine that ate the south." The kudzu is competing with the trees for__________.

• water

• space

• nutrients in the soil

• sunlight

Multiple Choice

A certain kind of bacteria lives in the intestines of humans and many other animals. The human cannot digest all of the food that it eats. The bacteria eat the food that the human cannot digest and partially digest it, allowing the human to finish the job. The bacteria benefit by getting food, and the human benefits by being able to digest the food it eats. The bacteria and human have a _____________ relationship.

• mutualistic

• parasitic

• commensalistic

Multiple Choice

False coloring such as eyespots help ___________ escape from ______________.

• predators, prey

• hosts, parasites

• prey, predators