Question

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)

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

I think it is keystone species

Answer 3

google search, keystone species

Answer 4

thanks to all

Answer 5

keystone