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Zorluk: ZorEcology and Environment

In a kelp forest ecosystem, sea urchins feed on giant kelp, sea otters prey on urchins, and orcas prey on otters. If the orca population increases significantly, which ecological outcome is most likely to occur?

  1. A
    The sea otter population expands rapidly due to increased energy input from top predators.
  2. B
    The giant kelp biomass expands because fewer primary consumers remain in the habitat.
  3. The sea urchin population increases, leading to a decline in giant kelp biomass.Cevap
  4. D
    The giant kelp population increases cellular respiration to replace organic matter consumed by herbivores.

Cevap

The sea urchin population increases, leading to a decline in giant kelp biomass.
In a four-tiered trophic cascade, an increase in apex predators (orcas) intensifies predation on secondary consumers (sea otters), causing otter numbers to drop. With fewer otters hunting them, primary consumers (sea urchins) multiply rapidly, and their increased grazing depletes the primary producer (giant kelp).

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Map the trophic levels of the food chain.
Giant kelp is the primary producer, sea urchins are primary consumers (herbivores), sea otters are secondary consumers, and orcas are tertiary consumers (apex predators).
Understanding the direction of energy flow and predator-prey linkages is necessary to predict ecological cascades.
2
Determine the direct effect of an increased orca population on secondary consumers.
Greater predation by orcas decreases the sea otter population.
A higher predator density increases consumption of its direct prey.
3
Analyze the indirect top-down effect on primary consumers and producers.
Fewer sea otters mean less predation on sea urchins, causing the urchin population to increase, which subsequently leads to heavy grazing and depletion of giant kelp.
Secondary consumers regulate primary consumer abundance; removing this regulation allows herbivore populations to grow unchecked and overgraze producers.

Anahtar Kavram

Trophic cascades and population regulation in multi-tiered food webs
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Konular

Ecology and Environment

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