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What will happen if all the ants were removed from an acacla tree?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
The tree would not bother to protect itself and it would reduce nectar and make fewer thorns. It would become sick and and grow slower than other Acacia trees because of the of protection it is getting from the removed ants.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoA species of acacia tree on the plains of East Africa provides shelter and food to a species of ants. In return, the ants fiercely defend the trees. They defend them against elephants!
If you were to remove the ants from the tree, Scientists have said that the result was the tree would not bother to protect itself and it would reduce nectar production and make fewer thorns. It would become sick and and grow slower than other Acacia trees because of the lack of protection it is getting from the removed ants.
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Do gray tree frogs eat ants?
Yes, they do.
Will burning leaves at the base of a tree kill ants in the tree?
No, it will just make them go inside the tree to get out of the smoke!
What do Nigriceps ants prey on?
Nigriceps ants have adapted to their surroundings by making their homes in the Swollen Thorn Acacia tree. The ants prune the growth of the tree to ensure that it grows vertically and is difficult to attack by other ants. The environment is too wet or too dry by times for them to nest on the ground.
What are some examples of mutilism?
A hippo and a bird; the bird cleans out the hippo's teth and having a meal and the hippo is beinged clean. or A bird and a army of ants, the bird follows the ants (without eating the ants) but the ants stir up different insects and the bird eats the insects. or A squirrel and tree, the squirrel gets shelter, a place to store nuts (squirrels only usually fine 10-18% of the nuts that they bury) and the tree scatters the seeds of the squirrels while the tree remains unharmed but no greater than before.
What is the symbiosis relationship between ants and the acacia tree?
They have a mutual relationship. At the base of the thorns of the acacia tree there are hollow lumps which the ants can turn into a hive. When animals, such as giraffes, start to eat the soft acacia leaves it vibrates the stems and the ants come out and attack the intruder annoying the giraffe so much that it stops eating at the acacia and moves on to find a less irritable meal. The tree then repays the ants by giving off a sweet nectar that the ants use to feed to there larvae. The ants also patrol down and around the base of the acacia and not eat but chew and destroy any other alien saplings growing in the vicinity of the acacia (not using a single bit of the destroyed plant). It is almost as if the ants know they are helping the acacia dominate and get as much water as possible.
What will happen if the ants were removed from the acacia tree?
If the ants were removed from the acacia tree the trees would be stripped of their leaves by elephants. The ants serve as a defense mechanism for the trees.
What would happen if a ring of a bark and camium layer were removed from arounf the trunk of the tree?
The tree will die.
Should you cut down a tree if there are ants in it?
I don't believe that you should cut down the tree, because ants are a vital part of our Eco system. But it depends on the type of ants like if their big red ants and you kids who climb the tree often you should consider it.
Are ants protecting a tree that produces the ants only food a parasitism?
It can be. For example, when ants protect scale insects on a tree because they feed on honeydew from the scales, then they are really using material from the tree that they get from the scale that parasitises the tree directly. However, while they protect the tree from other animals, they also prevent the enemies of the scale from clearing the scale from the tree, even if they keep other animals from attacking the tree directly. Sometimes such scale can kill the tree if one doesn't get rid of the ants. However, in some trees, such as the trees called whistling thorns, ants do the tree little harm and the tree actually grows parts that the ant can eat. Such ants attack giraffes and antelopes that otherwise feed on the tree. That is not so much parasitism as what we call mutualism. This means that both both the ants and the plant win from the deal.
What animals in Africa live in or eat the whistling thorn?
The whistling thorn has a symbiotic relationship with ants. The ants will defend the tree by biting the herbivores who try and eat it, and in return, the tree allows the ants to live in its dead thorns. If no herbivore comes by, and the ants are proving useless, the tree will stop its supply of necter that the ants drink, and shrink the thorns they live in
Are acacia tree ants poisonous?
yes
The ants and the acacia tree living together and both receiving benefit?
Yes because the tree will give shelter for ants when it's raining nd during summer for the tree she will be happy haha
What eats tree ferns in the rainforest?
beetles and ants!
Where are the green tree ants found?
They are found in australia.
Do gray tree frogs eat ants?
Yes, they do.
Do fighting fish eat ants?
Ants are not usually fed to Betta splendens in captivity but in the wild tropical rainforests, tree ants would sometimes fall into water that would be occupied by Betta s. so tree ants would inevitably be a part of their natural diet.
The relationship between acacia trees and the ants that live on them is an example of?
Parasitism
