Introduction to ecology and evolution Introduction to ecology and evolution Ques

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Introduction to ecology and evolution Introduction to ecology and evolution Question 3 3 pts Fire ants were introduced from South America and now range across much of the southeastern US They have made it into North Carolina and continue to spread northward. A colleague suggests that their range is still expanding because they have evolved a wider fundamental niche. While that's possible, you think another explanation is more likely. Give an alternative hypothesis for fire ants' continuing to spread northward. HTML Editor - Paragraph

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When a new species is introduced in an area it either gets eliminated due to non adaptibilty to the alien environment or if the newer habitat is ideal for survival then they show an eruptive growth rate because this new habitat lacks its natural predator. Predation always puts a check on overall growth of a particular species. Deficiency of natural predators will lead to uncontrolled growth of alien population which makes it an invasive species.

Since the fire ants are spreading all over the US, this implies that the natural predator which was previously found in South america is not present in North america. This has made fire ants grow exponentially in north. Also the fire ants can survive on any form of food, as they are very good scavenger. This might also have helped them to spread towards the north.

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