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)

Question

Responses

apex predator
apex predator

producer
producer

keystone species
keystone species

decomposer
decomposer
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Answer 1

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

A keystone species is one that has a disproportionately large impact on its ecosystem relative to its abundance. In this case, sea otters control the population of sea urchins, which in turn allows kelp to thrive, supporting the broader marine ecosystem. Without the otters, the urchin population would explode, leading to the depletion of kelp and negatively affecting the entire habitat.