Lyceum Northwestern University

Institute of Graduate Studies

Tapuac District, Dagupan City

POSITION PAPER
(Typical Predator-Prey Interactions
in a Forest Ecosystem)

A Requirement
For
Special Topics for Science Teachers

Submitted to:
DR. ESMIE T. AGPALO

Submitted by:

JERIC R. RAZOTE
 TYPICAL PREDATOR-PREY INTERACTIONS IN A FOREST
ECOSYSTEM

Topic: Ecological Relationships (Grade 7, 2ND Quarter)

MELCS: Describe the different relationships found in an ecosystem. (S7LT-

IIh-10)

I. abstraction:
This position paper I prepared is all about the interactions of predator and prey in an ecosystem
and it is aligned to the MELCS or Most Essential Learning Competency under the K-12
Curriculum: Describe the different relationships found in an ecosystem (S7LT-IIh-10) under
the Grade 7 competencies. This position paper shows how I see a predator and prey interacts in
an ecosystem/environment, and how they are related to each other. Due to the scientists
studying population dynamics, or changes in populations over time, have noticed that “predator-
prey relationships” greatly affect the populations of each species, and that because of the
predator prey relationship, these population fluctuations are linked.

The big question is; “Are these kind of relationship in such organisms will greatly affects the
balance population and the balance the fauna of biodiversity? Will it be the cause of death
leading to overpopulation of organisms?”

II. INTRODUCTION:
One of the most dynamic forms of population interactions in nature is that of predation.
Predation is wherein one organism feeds on another living organism. Predator-prey system is a
general term for the interaction between predator and prey. The predator is the one that
consumes whereas the prey is the one eaten alive. In natural communities, predation serves as a
means in the transfer of energy. Furthermore, predation plays a significant role in determining
and regulating the population size of both the predator and the prey. Predator-prey interaction
can also be considered as a co-evolved relationship. As predators evolve more efficient ways in
hunting and capturing the prey, the prey evolves ways of avoiding or counter-acting predation.

In this exercise, the students will do a simulation of a predator-prey relationship that

normally occurs in a forest. The snakes will be the predators while rats will be their prey. He
forest in our simulation will be Mt. Makiling National Forest in Los Banos, Laguna. Snakes can
be described as excellent hunters that can eat many different kinds of animals. To simplify our
simulation, we will limit snake’s food supply to rats.

At the end of the exercise the students will know how predation operates in natural
communities. In addition, they will appreciate the role of predation in regulating the population
sizes of both predators and prey leading to a balanced system.

Key terms:

Predation True predation Polyphagous

Predator Grazers Carnivores
Prey Parasites Omnivores
Predator-prey system Parasitoids Herbivores
 Coevolution Monophagous
Cannibalism Oligophagous

III. PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS:

The group had done the simulation last February 24, 2016 inside PHINMA-UPang premises.
They had prepared a 50 x 50 cm cardboard representing Mt. Makiling and had prepared cut-outs
of snakes and rats.

Generatio Number Number Number Number Number of Number of

n Number of rats at of snakes of rats of snakes surviving surviving
start at start caught starved rats * snakes *
offspring offspring
1 3 1 0 1 6 0
2 0 1 2 1 8 0
3 8 1 2 1 12 0
4 12 1 2 1 20 0
5 20 1 4 0 32 2
6 32 2 6 0 52 4
7 52 4 19 0 66 13
8 66 9 33 4 66 13
9 66 13 52 3 28 23
10 28 23 28 29 0 4
11 3 4 3 4 0 4
12 3 1 0 1 6 0
13 6 1 1 1 10 0
14 10 1 1 1 10 0
15 20 1 3 0 34 2
16 34 2 3 2 62 0
17 62 1 6 0 112 3
18 112 3 21 0 186 8
19 186 8 101 0 170 42
20 170 42 148 24 26 60
21 26 60 26 57 0 1
22 3 2 3 2 4 0
23 4 1 1 1 6 0
24 6 1 1 1 10 0
25 10 1 3 0 14 2
26 14 2 7 0 14 4
27 14 4 6 3 22 2
28 22 2 4 1 36 2
29 36 2 6 1 60 2
30 60 2 4 2 112 2
 As what we observed in the graph there is an initial increased in the population of the
prey because the number of the predator that will hunt them is insufficient because the area is
spacious that gives them (the prey) an opportunity to reproduce, but as the population of the prey
species is numerous, the number of predators will increase because there is more food to feed
them and a higher population can be supported with available resources. As the population of the
snake grows there comes a time that the population of the rat declines because of the abundant
population of the snake that eats them. As the population of the rat that serves as a prey to the
snake declines, snakes population also declines because of famine and starvation.

Predator-prey system is unstable, as what we observed in the graph where the number of
prey increases because of insufficient number of predator. The chance of predator to hunt them
also increases. Then predator will eat them until the prey population declines because they are
being consumed by the growing population of the predator. When predator over consumed the
prey their population will decline because they will starve. They are both needed the predator
and the prey to balance the nature.

IV. CONCLUSION

Therefore the researcher concluded that Predator and prey affects each other. Two
populations fluctuate in response to the density of one another. When the prey species is
numerous, the number of predators will increase because there is more food to feed them and a
higher population can be supported with available resources. As the number of predators begins
to increase, the density of the prey population will decrease in response to increased rates of
predation. That results in a decrease in the number of predators as the food resource becomes
smaller which in turn decreases the rate of predation, allowing the prey species population to
flourish again.

v. GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. Based on your graph, which exhibits an initial increase in the population

size, that of rats or snakes?
Based on our graph the one who exhibits an initial increase in population size is the rats,
because the population of predator is insufficient to hunt/kill the rat (prey) that is randomly
thriving in Mt. Makiling. Mt. Makiling is spacious that’s why snakes can’t hunt the prey
immediately that gives advantage to the prey to reproduce their own kind.

2. By just looking at the graph, can you deduce which population is that of
predator and which is that of prey? Explain.
Yes, because as we can see in the graph the snake is the predator because
it lives by capturing and eating other animals and that is the rat that serves as the prey in Mt.
Makiling because it serves as the food for the snake.
 3. If all snakes were hunted to extinction, what do you think will surely happen
to the prey population? Will this effect reversible?
When snake becomes threatened or extinct, this removes a check and balance in the food
chain on the population of rat consequentially, the population of rat will be crowded/populated.
Extinction of the snake population contributes to instability in the ecosystem by reducing
biodiversity also. This effect will be reversible also and the thing is if prey become extinct, the
population of the predator will increase at first but will decrease also because they don’t have
prey that serves as their food for living. The possibility is that the predator will die because of
famine or they will rather consume their own kind to live. “Survival of the fittest.”

4. What is meant by a key predator? What is the ecological role in natural

communities?

A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way

an ecosystem functions. Without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically
different or cease to exist altogether. A keystone species is often, but not always, a predator. The
ecological role of keystone predators is that it can control the distribution and population of large
numbers of prey species. Without the keystone species, new plants or animals could also come
into the habitat and push out the native species. A keystone species' disappearance would start
a domino effect. Other species in the habitat would also disappear and become extinct.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predation

5. How predators are classified?

Predators are classified by the extent to which food they are feed on and on the manner
they interact with their prey. Instead of focusing on what they eat, this system classifies predators
by the way in which they eat, and the general nature of the interaction between predator and prey
species, two factors are considered here: How close the predator and prey physically (in the latter
two cases the term prey may be replaced with host).

Types of Predators:
True Predator

A true predator can commonly be known as one that kills and eats another living thing.
Whereas other types of predator all harm their prey in some way, this form kills them. Predators
may hunt actively for prey in pursuit predation, or sit and wait for prey to approach within
striking distance, as in ambush predators. Some predators kill large prey and dismember or chew
it prior to eating it, such as a jaguar or a human; others may eat their (usually much smaller) prey
whole, as does a bottlenose dolphin swallowing a fish, or a snake, duck or stork swallowing
a frog. Some animals that kill both large and small prey for their size (domestic cats and dogs are
prime examples) may do either depending upon the circumstances; either would devour a large
insect whole but dismember a rabbit. Some predation entails venom that subdues a prey creature
before the predator ingests the prey by killing, which the box jellyfish does, or disabling it, found
in the behavior of the cone shell. In some cases, the venom, as in rattlesnakes and some spiders,
contributes to the digestion of the prey item even before the predator begins eating. In other
cases, the prey organism may die in the mouth or digestive system of the predator. Baleen
whales, for example, eat millions of microscopic plankton at once, the prey being broken down
well after entering the whale. Seed predation and egg predation are other forms of true predation,
as seeds and eggs represent potential organisms. Predators of this classification need not eat prey
entirely. For example, some predators cannot digest bones, while others can. Some may eat only
part of an organism, as in grazing (see below), but still consistently cause its direct death.
Grazing
Grazing organisms may also kill their prey species, but this is seldom the case. While
some herbivores like zooplankton live on unicellular phytoplankton and therefore, by the
individualized nature of the organism, kill their prey, many only eat a small part of the plant.
Grazing livestock may pull some grass out at the roots, but most is simply grazed upon, allowing
the plant to regrow once again. Kelp is frequently grazed in subtidal kelp forests, but regrows at
the base of the blade continuously to cope with browsing pressure. Animals may also be 'grazed'
upon; female mosquitos land on hosts briefly to gain sufficient proteins for the development of
their offspring. Starfish may be grazed on, being capable of regenerating lost arms.
Parasitism
Parasites can at times be difficult to distinguish from grazers. Their feeding behavior is
similar in many ways, however they are noted for their close association with their host species.
While a grazing species such as an elephant may travel many kilometers in a single day, grazing
on many plants in the process, parasites form very close associations with their hosts, usually
having only one or at most a few in their lifetime. This close living arrangement may be
described by the term symbiosis, "living together", but unlikemutualism the association
significantly reduces the fitness of the host. Parasitic organisms range from the
macroscopic mistletoe, a parasitic plant, to microscopic internal parasites such as cholera. Some
species however have more loose associations with their hosts. Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth)
larvae may feed parasitically on only a single plant, or they may graze on several nearby plants.
It is therefore wise to treat this classification system as a continuum rather than four isolated
forms.
Parasitoidism
Parasitoids are organisms living in or on their host and feeding directly upon it,
eventually leading to its death. They are much like parasites in their close symbiotic relationship
with their host or hosts. Like the previous two classifications parasitoid predators do not kill their
hosts instantly. However, unlike parasites, they are very similar to true predators in that the fate
of their prey is quite inevitably death. A well-known example of a parasitoids are the ichneumon
wasps, solitary insects living a free life as an adult, then laying eggs on or in another species such
as a caterpillar. Its larva(e) feed on the growing host causing it little harm at first, but soon
devouring the internal organs until finally destroying the nervous system resulting in prey death.
By this stage the young wasp(s) are developed sufficiently to move to the next stage in their life
cycle. Though limited mainly to the insect
order Hymenoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera parasitoids make up as much as 10% of all insect
species.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predation
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=5.+How+predators+are+classified
%3F&oq=5.+How+predators+are+classified
%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.2249j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-
8#q=classification+of+predators
 6. Why do predators do not over eat their prey?
Because when the number of preys decreases, the predators can't get enough food and
their population is decreasing too. During long periods of time the populations are balanced so
that predators can be fed and preys don't go extinct.