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How do biologists understand how predators are necessary to main tain healtly populations of prey animals?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
In short terms: They don't. However, in many cases there are clear logical deductions to make based on previous experiments or observations in similar communities. Sometimes they also do field experiments where they fence off areas, keeping the predators out and "seeing what happens".
You should also be aware that predators aren't always necessary for prey to maintain healthy populations, but rather that this can be the case in certain communities, especially ones affected by top-down control (e.g. predator numbers decline, their prey boosts in population, the plants they eat get grazed to small numbers, another type of plant gains dominance, and the plant they used to eat gets outcompeted by the new plant, the grazing animals no longer have any food and get a severe population reduction due to starvation).
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
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Predators are abiotic factors that limit the size of prey populations true or false?
false
What statement best describes bat populations in a stable ecosystem?
They are not limited by natural predators
What most likely happened to the herbivores and smaller carnivores in those local food chains after the predators disappeared?
Their populations increased.
What critical needs for an organism are jaws limbs teeth and eyes necessary for?
The jaws are necessary for chewing/biting food and killing prey (need for food). The limbs are necessary for ambulation (moving) (need to escape predators or find food). The teeth are necessary for defending oneself from predators and kill/eat food (need to escape predators and eat food). The eyes are necessary for evading predators and finding food (need to escape predators and find food).
What factors affect the populations in an?
One factor that can affect the populations in an ecosystem is that, if an ecosystem had owls with no predators, the owl population would increase and eat all the mice in the ecosystems. The population of the mice would decrease more and more.
Why does presence of predators help keep an ecosystem stable?
The predators keep prey populations balanced.
Why doe the presence of predators help keep an ecosystem stable?
The predators keep prey populations balanced.
How does the presence of predators help keep an ecosystem stable?
The predators keep prey populations balanced.
Predators are abiotic factors that limit the size of prey populations true or false?
false
What statement best describes bat populations in a stable ecosystem?
They are not limited by natural predators
Why is it important that a population of predators exist in an area?
It is very important, because they contol the populations of their prey.
Can predators limit the size of populations by weakening their hosts causing disease or death?
Parasites
How Do Owls Keep An Ecosystem Balanced?
Owls are typically the top predators in an ecosystem, eating mice, etc. Predators are needed to regulate the other populations and keep the ecosystem at equilibrium.
When exotic species are introduced into an area their populations may grow exponentially because the species?
lacks natural predators or competitors in the new environment, leading to unchecked growth.
Why do predators kill and not eat all their prey?
When the number of preys decreases, the predators can't get enough food and their population is decreasing too. During long periods of time the populations are balanced so that predators can be fed and preys don't go extinct.
What most likely happened to the herbivores and smaller carnivores in those local food chains after the predators disappeared?
Their populations increased.
What is a bobcats predators?
Bobcats are apex predators. They usually don't have any other predators that hunt on them. However there have been known cases where large Coyote populations have affected the number of bobcats in the area. This suggests that during conflicts Coyotes can attack and even kill them.
