TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 13168


Use the following diagram from the text showing the spread of the cattle egret, Bulbulcus ibis, since its arrival in the New World, to answer the following question.


How would an ecologist likely explain the expansion of the cattle egret?

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles
  1. The areas to which the cattle egret has expanded have no cattle egret parasites.
  2. Climatic factors, such as temperature and precipitation provide suitable habitat for cattle egrets.
  3. There are no natural predators for cattle egrets in the New World, so they continue to expand their range. 
  4. A habitat left unoccupied by native herons and egrets met the biotic and abiotic requirements of the cattle egret transplants and their descendants.