What role do predators play in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem?
A)
They ensure that the ecosystem is not stripped entirely of its vegetation.
B)
They ensure the transfer of energy from plants to the rest of the food web.
C)
They are primarily responsible for the transfer of nutrients to the plants.
D)
They are primarily responsible for the cross pollination of plants in the ecosystem.

Question

What role do predators play in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem?
A)
They ensure that the ecosystem is not stripped entirely of its vegetation.	
B)
They ensure the transfer of energy from plants to the rest of the food web.	
C)
They are primarily responsible for the transfer of nutrients to the plants.	
D)
They are primarily responsible for the cross pollination of plants in the ecosystem.

blues · Answer

Again, process of elimination...

anonymous · Answer

I've eliminated C and D.

anonymous · Answer

I fee like A could be correct because it is preventing the animals it eats to eat all of the vegetation, but I also feel like it is responsible to transfer the energy from plants by eating the prey containing the energy.

blues · Answer

It is tricky to distinguish between A and B, because predators do both these things.

I would reason that predators effect the amount of vegetation indirectly. That is, the plants not being eaten by plant-eating-animals is an indirect effect of the plant-eating-animals being eaten by predators.

Whereas transferring energy from plants to the secondary predators is an immediate and direct effect of predators eating plants.

So I would jump toward B.

anonymous · Answer

Okay, that makes sense.  It's just a tricky question in general.  Thank you.

blues · Answer

:) Thanks for working through the problems, not just asking for answers.

anonymous · Answer

No problem.  I like to understand what I'm reading.