Parland’s alligator population has been declining in recent years, primarily because of hunting. Alligators prey heavily on a sp
ecies of freshwater fish that is highly valued as food by Parlanders, who had hoped that the decline in the alligator population would lead to an increase in the numbers of these fish available for human consumption. Yet the population of this fish species has also declined, even though the annual number caught for human consumption has not increased.Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the decline in the population of the fish species?(A) The decline in the alligator population has meant that fishers can work in some parts of lakes and rivers that were formerly too dangerous.(B) Over the last few years, Parland’s commercial fishing enterprises have increased the number of fishing boats they use.(C) The main predator of these fish is another species of fish on which alligators also prey.(D) Many Parlanders who hunt alligators do so because of the high market price of alligator skins, not because of the threat alligators pose to the fish population.(E) In several neighboring countries through which Parland’s rivers also flow, alligators are at risk of extinction as a result of extensive hunting.
C) The main predator of these fish is another species of fish on which alligators also prey
Explanation:
The only reasonable explanation as to why the species of fish experiences decline in number despite the fishing being the same, and the number of alligators that preyed on the fish going down, is another species of fish which preyed upon the fishes that are fished, but the alligators were also preying on them. Since the alligators have been mostly removed from the ecosystem, the fish that preyed on the other fishes experienced significant increase in its numbers, and since it feeds upon the other fish, that resulted in constant decline in the population of those fishes. The decline in number will only stop when the carrying capacity is reached for the predatory fish in the ecosystem.
