During the nineteenth century, sea otters were hunted almost to the point of extinction. When the number of sea otters became very low, it was noticed that the ecosystem of kelp bed "forests" was also disappearing. It was discovered that the sea otters were predators of sea urchins, which were, in turn, predators of the kelp. When sea otters declined, the sea urchin populations grew, destroying the kelp ecosystem and the many species that depended on it. What role did sea otters perform in this ecosystem?a. predators
b. competitors
c. parasites
d. a keystone species
e. producers

Keystone species are those that have a great influence on the ecosystem they live in. For this particular case, the sea otters kept the population of sea urchins in check, which in turn prevented the kelp bed forests from being overeaten. Once the number of sea otters started to decline, the sea urchins increased in number and so there were more of them to feed on the kelp. This imbalance in the food chain greatly disrupted the ecosystem and thus, making the sea otters to be a keystone specie.

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akposevictor akposevictor · Answer 2 · 2020-03-25T10:44:07+01:00

Answer:

d. a keystone species

Explanation:

A keystone species is an organism upon which the balance of an ecosystem is dependent on its relative abundance in the ecosystem. In order words, their presence in an ecosystem is important in the structure and the functionality of an ecosystem. An abrupt change in their population will have exact great influence on their ecosystem.

Just as stated in the question above, a decline in the population of sea otters as a result of them being hunted, affected the ecosystem of kelp bed “forests”.

Sea otters are a predatory keystone species. They are the glue that held the kelp bed “forests” ecosystem together.