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What is the process by which one organism captures and consumes another organism called?
Mutualism
Competition
Predation
Parasitism
Predation
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and consumes another organism, the prey, for energy. It is a critical component of food webs that helps regulate the population size of prey species.
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and consumes another organism, the prey, for energy. It is a critical component of food webs that helps regulate the population size of prey species.
Think of a lion hunting a zebra; the lion is the predator using the zebra as a fuel source to sustain its own survival.
P for Predator, P for Prey, P for Powerful hunt.
╬ФE=╬╖тЛЕBpтАЛ тАФ where ╬ФE is energy gained, ╬╖ is efficiency, and BpтАЛ is prey biomass.
The mechanism relies on energy transfer across trophic levels. The predator captures the prey to acquire biomass, converting the prey's stored chemical energy into its own biological growth, maintenance, and reproduction. This interaction follows the 10% Law, where only about 10% of the energy from the prey's biomass is converted into the predator's biomass.
Predators act as natural population controllers in an ecosystem.
Predation drives evolutionary adaptations like camouflage and mimicry.
It maintains biodiversity by preventing a single species from dominating the resources.
Keeps ecosystem populations in balance.
Removes weak or sick individuals from the prey population.
Can lead to prey extinction if predation pressure is unsustainable.
Biological pest control in agriculture.
Natural population management in wildlife conservation.
Mutualism: Both species benefit (+/+).
Competition: Both species harmed by fighting for shared resources (-/-).
Parasitism: Predator (parasite) lives on or inside the host, usually not killing it immediately (+/-).
Option C is the only term describing the direct capture and consumption process.
C is correct тАФ Predation is the specific ecological interaction where a predator kills and feeds on prey.
In exams, differentiate Predation from Parasitism by checking if the victim is killed immediately (Predation) or kept alive as a host (Parasitism).
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