The Pacific sea otter was hunted to near extinction in the early 1900s. The loss of this predator resulted in several changes to
the kelp forest ecosystem. Populations of sea urchins, which are one of the sea otters' favorite prey, grew to historically high numbers. Sea urchins graze on kelp, and the extremely large populations of sea urchins significantly reduced kelp biomass. Researchers have hypothesized that overgrazing of kelp by urchins may have hastened the extinction of the Stellar's sea cow, which also depended on kelp as a food source. Identify the ecosystem relationships that were disrupted in the kelp forests by the loss of sea otters.
Interspecific competition between sea urchins and Stellar's sea cows
Predation fo sea urchins by sea otters
Explanation:
As urchins and Stellar's sea cows feed on seaweed, since these algae are low in quantity, these two organisms end up competing for food, creating an inter-specific competition, which occurs when two organisms compete for the same resource within a same ecological niche. However, as the hedgehog has advantages in this niche, this competition was interrupted.
The otters' predatorism in relation to sea urchins was also interrupted, as the otters reached a very low population level, failing to control the hedgehog population and generating an environmental imbalance.
The right ventricle pumps the oxygen-poor blood to the lungs through the pulmonary valve. The left atrium receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the left ventricle through the mitral valve. The left ventricle pumps the oxygen-rich blood through the aortic valve out to the rest of the body.
