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Organisms and Populations — BIOLOGY STD 12 Science — Question

Maharashtra BoardEnglish MediumSTD 12 ScienceBIOLOGYOrganisms and Populations3 Marks
Question
Why is predation important and required in a community with rich biodiversity? Explain with the help of suitable examples.
OR
What is 'predation"? Explain with the help of suitable examples, why it is required in a community with rich biodiversity.
✓

Answer

  1. Predators act as conduits for energy transfer across trophic levels. They transfer the energy fixed by the plants to higher trophic levels.
  2. They help in maintaining species diversity by reducing the intensity of competition among the prey species.
  • In the rocky intertidal zones of the American Pacific Coast, the starfish Pisaster is a predator.
  • In a field experiment, when all the starfish were removed from an enclosed area, more than ten species of invertebrates became extinct within a year, due to interspecific competition.
  1. They keep the prey population under control and thereby prevent the ecosystem instability.
  • A cactus introduced into Australia in 1920s caused havoc by spreading rapidly into millions of hectares of the land.
  • Later, this was brought under control by introducing a cactus-feeding moth (a predator) from its natural habitat.
Predation is the interspecific interaction in which a large animal, called predator, kills and consumes a smaller animal, called prey.

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