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  3. 共用题干 第二篇Research by the University of Exeter has revealed that ants have a b...

共用题干 第二篇Research by the University of Exeter has revealed that ants have a b...

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问题 共用题干
第二篇

Research by the University of Exeter has revealed that ants have a big impact on their local en-vironment as a result of their activity as"ecosystem engineers"and predators.The study,published in the Journal of Animal Ecology,found that ants have two distinct effects on their local environment.
Firstly,through moving of soil by nest building activity and by collecting food they affect the level of nutrients in the soil.This can indirectly impact the local populations of many animal groups, from decomposers to species much higher up the food chain.
Secondly,they prey on a wide range of other animals,including larger prey which can be at-tacked by vast numbers of ant workers.
Dirk Sanders,an author of the study from the university's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, said:"Ants are very effective predators which thrive in huge numbers.They're also very territorial and very aggressive,defending their resources and territory against other predators.All of this means they have a strong influence on their surrounding area."
"In this research,we studied for the first time how big this impact is and the subtleties of it. What we found is that despite being predators,their presence can also lead to an increase in density and diversity of other animal groups.They genuinely play a key role in the local environment,haying a big influence on the grassland food web,"Sanders said.
The study,carried out in Germany,studied the impact of the presence of different combinations and densities of black garden ants and common red ants,both species which can be found across Eurone.including in the UK.It found that a low density of ants in an area increased the diversity and density of other animals in the local area,particularly the density of herbivores and decomposers.At higher densities ants had no or the opposite effect,showing that predation is counteracting the positive influence.
Dr Frank van Veen,another author on the study,said:"What we find is that the impact of ants on soil nutrient levels has a positive effect on animal groups at low levels,but as the number of ants increases,their predatory impacts have the bigger effect一thereby counteracting the positive influence via ecosystem engineering."
Ants are important components of ecosystems not only because they constitute a great part of the animal biomass but also because they act as ecosystem engineers.Ant biodiversity is incredibly high and these organisms are highly responsive to human impact,which obviously reduces its richness. However,it is not clear how such disturbance damages the maintenance of ant services to the ecosystem.Ants are important in below ground processes through the alteration of the physical and chemical environment and through their effects on plants,microorganisms,and other soil organisms.
选项 As predators,ants_________.
A:prey on small as well as large animals
B:collect nutritious food from the soil
C:collect food as decomposers
D:prey on species much higher up the food chain
答案A
解析根据文章第一段的第一句话，我们知道蚂蚁之所以被称为“生态系统工程师”是因为它们的行为对当地的环境产生巨大的影响。因此选择C。
文章第三段讲到蚂蚁作为食肉动物会捕食各种动物，甚至是比较大的猎物。因此选项A是正确的。
文章第五段第一句详细解释了Sanders博士所从事的研究内容，即“对蚂蚁带来的影响大小及微妙程度进行研究”。因此选项D是正确的。
文章第六段主要是说蚂蚁数量少的话，其他动物的品种和数量就会增加，从而会给环境带来积极的影响。如果蚂蚁数量大，就不可能产生同样的影响，或是产生相反的影响。选项B是正确的。
最后一段倒数第二句提到“科学家还不清楚人类对蚂蚁的这种干扰是如何破坏蚂蚁对生态系统的维护作用的”。因此选项C是正确的。
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