Explain how the elimination of a predator from an ecosystem might result in starvation amongst its prey species.

Because the prey would become more abundant and the competition for food would be higher, making it harder to obtain.

A great example that our text emphasizes is the removal of the natural predators, wolves, mountain lions, and bears, from the white-tailed deer ecosystem. This removal resulted in an explosion of the deer's population, which resulted in overgrazing as well as other stresses this placed on the ecosystem's natural resources (plants, etc. that the white-tailed dear feeds on). The landscape was ravaged, as the effects of this overgrazing did not just affect the white-tailed dear, but every other living organism in that ecosystem.

The difference between threatened and endangered species is that an endangered species is at risk of becoming extinct. A threatened species is a were a species is likely to become endangered. In Florida one animal that is a threatened and endangered species is a sea turtle, and a key deer. Although man is one reason why species become threatened and endangered this is not the only reason. The environment, other animals, and global warming are also reasons why things may become endangered.