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An apex predator, also known as a top predator or superpredator, is a predator [a] at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics , meaning that they occupy the highest trophic levels .
Food chain in a Swedish lake. Osprey feed on northern pike, which in turn feed on perch which eat bleak which eat crustaceans.. A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as earthworms and woodlice ...
At the top of this food chain are apex predators such as lions. [130] Many predators however eat from multiple levels of the food chain; a carnivore may eat both secondary and tertiary consumers. [131] This means that many predators must contend with intraguild predation, where other predators kill and eat them.
Trophic cascades are powerful indirect interactions that can control entire ecosystems, occurring when a trophic level in a food web is suppressed. For example, a top-down cascade will occur if predators are effective enough in predation to reduce the abundance, or alter the behavior of their prey, thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation (or herbivory if the intermediate ...
In real-world ecosystems, there is more than one food chain for most organisms, since most organisms eat more than one kind of food or are eaten by more than one type of predator. A diagram that sets out the intricate network of intersecting and overlapping food chains for an ecosystem is called its food web. [6]
Consumer–resource interactions are the core motif of ecological food chains or food webs, [1] and are an umbrella term for a variety of more specialized types of biological species interactions including prey-predator (see predation), host-parasite (see parasitism), plant-herbivore and victim-exploiter systems.
A carnivore at the top of the food chain (adults not preyed upon by other animals) is termed an apex predator, regardless of whether it is an obligate or facultative carnivore. In captivity or domestic settings, obligate carnivores like cats and crocodiles can, in principle, get all their required nutrients from processed food made from plant ...
A mesopredator is a predator that occupies a mid-ranking trophic level in a food web. [1] There is no standard definition of a mesopredator, but mesopredators are usually medium-sized carnivorous or omnivorous animals, such as raccoons, foxes, or coyotes. [2] [3] They are often defined by contrast from apex predators or prey in a particular ...