Question

Marine biologist dr. James estes researched sea otters and their habitats in the aleuitan islands of the North pacific ocean. sea otters feed on animals such as crabs and urchins. 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. producer
2. decomposer
3. keystone species
4. apex predator

Answer 1

The term that best describes the sea otter in the Aleutian Islands ecosystem is **3. keystone species**.

Keystone species are those that have a disproportionately large impact on their environment relative to their abundance. In this case, the sea otters control the population of sea urchins, which in turn allows kelp forests to thrive. The presence of sea otters is crucial for maintaining the ecological balance of the habitat.