lookiheart.blogg.se - Predator vs prey animals

Non-native predatory fish, for instance, have sometimes devastated formerly dominant predators. Īpex predators affect prey species' population dynamics and populations of other predators, both in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. These include interactions via ecotourism, such as with the tiger shark, and through rewilding efforts, such as the proposed reintroduction of the Iberian lynx.Įcological roles Effects on community The great skua is an aerial apex predator, both preying on other seabirds and bullying them for their catches. More recently, humans have started interacting with apex predators in new ways. Humans have for many centuries interacted with apex predators including the wolf, birds of prey, and cormorants to hunt game animals, birds, and fish respectively. The apex predator concept is applied in wildlife management, conservation, and ecotourism.Īpex predators have a long evolutionary history, dating at least to the Cambrian period when animals such as Anomalocaris dominated the seas. Food chains are often far shorter on land, usually limited to being secondary consumers – for example, wolves prey mostly upon large herbivores (primary consumers), which eat plants (primary producers). Īpex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic levels. The great white shark (bottom) was originally considered an apex predator of the ocean however, the orca (killer whale, top) has proven to be a predator of the shark in some areas.Īn apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own. The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile and the dominant predator throughout its range. The lion is the world's second-largest big cat and serves as an apex land predator in Africa. If an organism is removed from a food chain or web all together, for example due to overhunting, then this can have a catastrophic effect on the other populations in the food web.For other uses, see Apex predator (disambiguation). Growing predator numbers will eventually reduce the food supply to the point where it can no longer sustain the predator population. If the prey population in an ecosystem grows, predator numbers will respond to the increased food supply by increasing as well.

Prey species must be well adapted to escape predators for their species to continue.

Predator species need to be adapted for efficient hunting if they are to catch enough food to survive.

There is a continuous struggle between predators and their prey:

An omnivore is an organism that will consume both plant and animal material.

A carnivore is an organism that only consumes animal material.

A herbivore is an organism that only consumes plant material.

Within food chains and webs there are organisms that will only consume particular types of food:

Consumers get food from a biotic source by eating the biomass of producers or other consumers. For example plants carry out photosynthesis to make food using light energy from the sun. Producers make their own food using energy from an abiotic source.

Ī food chain shows the linear flow of energy between organisms A food web shows the energy flow through interconnected food chains in an ecosystem Predator/prey relationships can be illustrated in a diagram called a food chain or food web. Prey is a term used to describe organisms that predators kill for food. A predator is an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals for food.