Marine biologist Dr. James Estes researched sea otters and their habitats in the Aleutian Islands of the North Pacific Ocean. Sea otters feed on animals such as crabs and urchins. Islands with sea otters contained a lot of kelp, a seaweed that is an important food source for fish and other sea animals. However, Islands without otters had large populations of urchins but no kelp since sea urchins feed on this seaweed. Since sea otters are able to control the population of urchins, this allows for kelp to freely grow in those areas. Given this information, what term best describes the otter in the Aleutian Islands ecosystem?(1 point)
I know it is not a producer and I know it is not a decomposer, but I'm not sure whether it is an apex predator or keystone species.
I think it is keystone species
google search, keystone species
thanks to all
The term that best describes the otter in the Aleutian Islands ecosystem is "keystone species." A keystone species is a species that plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance and diversity of an ecosystem. In this case, sea otters are considered a keystone species because their presence is essential for the overall health and stability of the ecosystem. By controlling the population of sea urchins, sea otters prevent overgrazing of kelp, which allows the kelp forests to thrive and provide habitat for a wide range of other marine organisms.
