Article 1
True/False: Predators kill their prey out of vicious intent.
False: predators kill their prey as a survival mechanism
True/False: Canadian lynx cycles are entirely hare availability-dependent.
False: While lynx populations depend largely on hare populations, they may also prey on other organisms, and other environmental factors influence their survival.
True/False: It is about what the environment does for the predator.
False: It is what the predator does for the environment
In the experiment done on hare population cycles, which experimental variable was the top-down control?
Predation
Define asymmetric food web interaction.
An interaction among species where one (e.g., the lynx) is more reliant on the other (e.g., the hare) than vice versa, with other variables influencing population numbers.
True/False: Human intervention is needed to maintain nature’s ecosystem balance.
False: Nature restores a balance and has been for centuries
In the experiment done on hare population cycles, which experimental variable was the bottom-up control?
Food abundance
What happens during the downturn of the hare-lynx cycle?
Hare numbers decrease due to over-predation and food scarcity, which in turn makes lynx numbers decrease due to food scarcity.
What is a keystone species?
It is a species upon which an ecosystem greatly depends in order to maintain a balance.
What is the decline phase of the prey/predator cycle?
Prey population decreases due to increase in predators, in turn decreasing the number of predators as well
What environmental factor(s) influence both hare and lynx survival?
Climate
What happens if you remove a keystone species?
There is a collapse of the ecosystem, and diversity would greatly decrease.
What is the peak phase of the prey/predator cycle?
The period of time where prey is at its highest population density
What is the primary predator of the snowshoe hare in this study?
Lynx
FUN QUESTION - What does the book animal farm say about species equality (hint: from the video Serengeti Rules):
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others (not all animals have the same impact on their environment).