Match the following population interactions with their examples List I List II A Predation 1 Cuscuta...........

General Studies ( Prelim) Environment and Ecology

Match the following population interactions with their examples:

List I List II

A. Predation 1. Cuscuta plant growing on hedge plants

B. Competition 2. Fig species pollinated by wasp species

C. Parasitism 3. Star fish Pisaster at the American pacific coast

D. Mutualism 4. Barnacle Balanus at the intertidal area of Scotland

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

A B C D

4 3 1 2

3 4 1 2

3 4 2 1

4 3 2 1

Predation :

Besides acting as ‘conduits’ for energy transfer across trophic levels, predators play other important roles.
They keep prey populations under control. But for predators, prey species could achieve very high population densities and cause ecosystem instability.
If a predator is too effi cient and overexploits its prey, then the prey might become extinct and following it, the predator will also become extinct for lack of food.
In the rocky intertidal communities of the American Pacific Coast, the star fish Pisaster is an important predator. In a field experiment, when all the star fi sh were removed from an enclosed intertidal area, more than 10 species of invertebrates became extinct within a year, because of interspeciic competition.