Use the Following Information When Answering the Corresponding Question(s)

question 8

Multiple Choice

Use the following information when answering the corresponding question(s) .
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is an important tree at timberline in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas.Its large seeds provide food for grizzly bears,squirrels and other rodents,and many birds,including its major seed disperser,the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) .The Clark's nutcracker has a pouch below its tongue for carrying seeds,which it deposits 10 m to 12 km from a tree.Clark's nutcrackers often store many more seeds than they need for survival;in a single year,one bird can store more than 30,000 seeds.They store 3-5 seeds from one cone in each cache and typically use the seeds for food during spring and summer.When these birds do not harvest the seeds,the seeds germinate and form new whitebark pine trees.(D.F.Tomback.1982.Dispersal of whitebark pine seeds by Clark's nutcracker: A mutualism hypothesis.Journal of Animal Ecology 51:451-67. )
-Refer to the paragraph on whitebark pine seed dispersal by Clark's nutcracker.To conclude that the Clark's nutcracker is a mutualistic seed disperser,not just a predator,you would need to determine that _____.

• A)if the birds are not present,whitebark pine cannot spread
• B)the birds eat all the seeds they cache
• C)seeds in the caches can germinate to produce seedlings
• D)bears and squirrels do not eat any of the seeds

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