Question

A) Discuss plant strategies to avoid herbivory

B) Compare and contrast sit-and-wait foragers to active foragers

Answer 1

A) PLANT DEFENSE AGAINST HERBIVORY

                      Plant defense against herbivory describes a ranges of adaptations evolved by plants which improve their survival and reproduction by reducing the impacts of herbivores.Many plants produce secondary metabolites ,also known as allochemicals that influence the behaviour , growth or survival of herbivores. These chemical defences can act as repellents or toxins to herbivores, or to reduce plant indigestibility . Another stratagies by plants, to avoid herbivory , is by growth of plants under untraceble areas where herbivores cant find the plants . The evolution of these kinds of defensive traits were found from 450 million years ago , while prevailing from Ordovician period.

B)   Sit-and-wait foraging means actively foraging predators are characterized by their frequent wandering movements.A sit-and-wait predator waits or remains still for a long period of time to capture it's prey as it appers before them.That is ,some predators attack its prey from ambush after a long time of prey observation.These category does include snake , crocodile , fish , lion , cheetah , tiger , spiders .etc...

    In active foraging , more energetic foraging involves active searching for suitable patches , and once there for prey or their hosts.Examples under these category includes mosquitoes , housefly , insects like butterfly , dragonflies and worms are some organisms showing active foraging.