The best term to describe the sea otter in the Aleutian Islands ecosystem is keystone species. This is because sea otters play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem by controlling the population of sea urchins, which in turn allows kelp to grow. This effect on the ecosystem underscores the importance of sea otters in maintaining the health and diversity of their habitat.
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) Responses producer producer decomposer decomposer apex predator apex predator keystone species keystone species
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