PT155 S4 Q10 ExplanationMany species of plants produce

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Too Weak / Unclear Impact3% picked this

   For many species of nectar-producing plants, productivity is increased when a plant is protected

   It's a pretty obvious truism to say that "for many species, they thrive more when they're protected from things that want to eat them". This argument specifically cares about EFNs, which are a specific type of nectar-producing plant. This answer is about any ol' nectar-producing plant.

   3%
2. B

   Correct88% picked this

   In field experiments, the introduction of jumping spiders into an environment was followed by a significant increase in

   Why this is right

   This boosts the plausibility of the idea that jumping spiders protect EFNs from leaf-eaters, because when you put jumping spiders into an environment, you see a big increase in EFN's, suggesting that now that spiders are walking the streets, policing EFNville, you don't see many leaf-eaters destroying EFN property. The fact that the presence of these spiders is followed by EFNs' thriving suggests that these spiders have a positive effect on EFNs' lives, which could plausibly be from keeping leaf-eaters away.

   Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   88%
3. C

   Too Weak4% picked this

   Some species of EFN-producing plants cannot survive without some outside agent protecting them

   This says "some" species can't survive without "some" outside agent. That's basically giving us one weak data point. There's at least one species that needs at least one other thing to protect it from leaf-eating insects. Could that "outside agent" be a jumping spider? Sure. Could it just be the aforementioned ants? Sure. Something else? Sure. It's too vague to make any impact.

   4%
4. D

   Weakens, if anything5% picked this

   Experiments with types of spiders other than jumping spiders suggest that these other types of spiders do

   This lowers the plausibility that a jumping spider is defending EFN plants, if it's not a known behavior among any other spiders.

   5%
5. E

   Unrelated to Goal1% picked this

   Regions with large populations of ants also tend to have large populations

   We don't need to hear anything about ants. We're trying to figure out whether these jumping spiders just rob the EFN's nectar or whether they also help the EFN survive by warding off leaf-eating insects.

   1%