Apex predator - wikipedia Apex predator For other uses, see Apex predator ( disambiguation ). The lion is Africa 's apex land predator. The saltwater crocodile is the largest living reptile and the dominant predator throughout its range. An apex predator, also known as an alpha predator or top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, upon which no other animals prey. Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic levels and serve as keystone species, vital to their ecosystems. One study of marine food webs defined apex predators as those feeding at trophic levels above four. Food chains are often far shorter on land, usually limited to the third trophic level -- for example, wolves prey mostly upon large herbivores. The apex predator concept is applied in wildlife management, conservation and ecotourism. Contents 1 Ecological roles 1.1 Effect on competitors and prey 1.2 Effects on wider ecosystem 1.3 Keystone species 2 Human trophic level 3 Interactions with humans 3.1 In ecotourism 3.2 In populated areas 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References Ecological roles See also : Mesopredator release hypothesis, Ecological niche, and List of apex predators Effect on competitors and prey Apex predators affect prey species ' population dynamics. Where two competing species are in an ecologically unstable relationship, apex predators tend to create stability if they prey upon both. Inter-predator relationships are also affected by apex status. Non-native fish, for example, have sometimes devastated formerly dominant predators. One lake manipulation study found that when the non-native smallmouth bass was removed, lake trout, the suppressed native apex predator, diversified its prey selection and increased its trophic level. Effects on wider ecosystem Apex predators have `` profound '' effects on ecosystems, as the consequences of both controlling prey density and restricting smaller predators, and may be capable of self - regulation. When introduced to subarctic islands, for example, Arctic foxes ' predation of seabirds has been shown to turn grassland into tundra. Such wide - ranging effects on lower levels of an ecosystem are termed trophic cascades. The removal of top - level predators, often through human agency, can radically cause or disrupt trophic cascades. Keystone species The gray wolf is a keystone species, affecting their prey 's behaviour and the wider ecosystem. Keystone species are often apex predators, though there may be other species at the same trophic level. The first example to be described ( by Robert Paine ) was the relationship between the starfish Pisaster ochraceus and the mussel Mytilus californianus. Keystone species thus do not have to be at the highest trophic level, but may have their own predators. Thus, sea stars are prey for sharks, rays, and sea anemones, while sea otters are prey for orca. Dramatic changes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem were recorded after the gray wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Elk, the wolves ' primary prey, became less abundant and changed their behavior, freeing riparian zones from constant grazing and allowing willows, aspens and cottonwoods to flourish, creating habitats for beaver, moose and scores of other species. In addition to their effect on prey species, the wolves ' presence also affected one of the park 's vulnerable species, the grizzly bear : emerging from hibernation, having fasted for months, the bears chose to scavenge wolf kills, especially during the autumn as they prepared to hibernate once again. The grizzly bear gives birth during hibernation, so the increased food supply is expected to produce an increase in the numbers of cubs observed. Dozens of other species, including eagles, ravens, magpies, coyotes and black bears have also been documented as scavenging from wolf kills within the park. Human trophic level Humans hunt other animals for food, fur, and recreation. Ecologists have debated whether Homo sapiens is an apex predator. Sylvain Bonhommeau and colleagues argued in 2013 that across the global food web, a fractional human trophic level ( HTL ) can usefully be calculated as the mean trophic level of every species in the human diet, weighted by the proportion that species forms in the diet. This analysis gives an average HTL of 2.21, varying between 2.04 and 2.57. These values are comparable to those of non-apex predators like anchovy or pig. Peter D. Roopnarine criticised Bonhommeau 's approach, arguing that humans are apex predators, and that the HTL was based on terrestrial farming where indeed humans have a low trophic level, mainly eating producers ( crop plants at level 1 ) or primary consumers ( herbivores at level 2 ), which as expected places humans at a level slightly above 2. Roopnarine instead calculated the position of humans in two marine ecosystems, a Caribbean coral reef and the Benguela system near South Africa. In these systems, humans mainly eat predatory fish and have a fractional trophic level of 4.65 and 4.5 respectively, making them `` apex predators in those systems. '' Interactions with humans Tiger shark with human diver for scale In ecotourism Ecotourism sometimes relies on apex predators to attract business. Tour operators may in consequence decide to provide food for these predators to attract them to areas that can conveniently be visited. This in turn could have effects on predator population and therefore on the wider ecosystem. As a result, provisioning of species such as the tiger shark is controversial, but its effects are not well established by empirical evidence. In populated areas The reintroduction of predators like the lynx is attractive to conservationists, but alarming to farmers. In densely populated areas like the British Isles, all the large predators like the wolf, bear, wolverine and lynx have become locally extinct, allowing herbivores such as deer to multiply unchecked except by hunting. In 2015, plans were made to reintroduce lynx to the counties of Norfolk, Cumbria, and Northumberland in England, and Aberdeenshire in Scotland as part of the rewilding movement. The reintroduction of large predators is controversial, not least because of concern among farmers for their livestock. Conservationists such as Paul Lister propose instead to allow wolves and bears to hunt their prey in a `` managed environment '' on large fenced reserves. See also Biology portal Consumers ( food chain ) Notes Jump up ^ Zoologists generally exclude parasites from tropic levels as they are ( often much ) smaller than their hosts, and individual species with multiple hosts at different life - cycle stages would occupy multiple levels. Otherwise they would often be at the top level, above apex predators. Jump up ^ However, humans had a network trophic level ( NTL ) of 4.27 in the coral reef system, compared to an NTL of 4.8 for the blacktip shark in the same system. Therefore, humans were not the topmost apex predator there. References Jump up ^ `` Saltwater Crocodile. '' Archived 2013 - 09 - 06 at the Wayback Machine. National Geographic. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Whiting, Frances. `` Terri fights to halt croc eggs harvest. '' Archived 2010 - 10 - 28 at the Wayback Machine. Australia Zoo. 2007 - 06 - 11. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Sukhdeo, Michael VK ( 2012 ). `` Where are the parasites in food webs ? ''. Parasites & Vectors. Springer Nature. 5 ( 1 ) : 239. doi : 10.1186 / 1756 - 3305 - 5 - 239. Jump up ^ `` predator ''. Online Etymological Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2009 - 07 - 01. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ `` apex predator ''. PBS. Archived from the original on 2009 - 07 - 22. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Essington, Timothy E. ; Beaudreau, Anne H. ; Wiedenmann, John ( December 2005 ). `` Fishing through marine food webs '' ( PDF ). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 ( 9 ) : 3171 -- 3175. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 0510964103. PMC 1413903. PMID 16481614. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2015 - 09 - 24. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Lepak, Jesse M. ; Kraft, Clifford E. ; Weidel, Brian C. ( March 2006 ). `` Rapid food web recovery in response to removal of an introduced apex predator '' ( PDF ). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 63 ( 3 ) : 569 -- 575. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 11 September 2008. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Wallach, Arian D. ; Izhaki, Ido ; Toms, Judith D. ; Ripple, William J. ; Shanas, Uri ( 2015 ). `` What is an apex predator ? ''. Oikos. 124 ( 11 ) : 1453 -- 1461. doi : 10.1111 / oik. 01977. Jump up ^ Croll, D.A. ; Maron, J.L. ; et al. ( March 2005 ). `` Introduced predators transform subarctic islands from grassland to tundra ''. Science. 307 ( 5717 ) : 1959 -- 1961. doi : 10.1126 / science. 1108485. PMID 15790855. Archived from the original on 2009 - 10 - 28. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Egan, Logan Zane ; Téllez, Jesús Javier ( June 2005 ). `` Effects of preferential primary consumer fishing on lower trophic level herbivores in the Line Islands '' ( PDF ). Stanford at Sea. Stanford University. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2010 - 07 - 12. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Pace, M.L. ; Cole, J.J. ; et al. ( December 1999 ). `` Trophic cascades revealed in diverse ecosystems ''. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 14 ( 12 ) : 483 -- 488. doi : 10.1016 / S0169 - 5347 ( 99 ) 01723 - 1. PMID 10542455. Jump up ^ Davic, Robert D. ( 2003 ). `` Linking keystone species and functional groups : a new operational definition of the keystone species concept '' Archived 2007 - 09 - 28 at the Wayback Machine... Conservation Ecology 7 ( 1 ) : r11. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Estes, J.A. ; Tinker, M.T. ; Williams, T.M. ; Doak, D.F. ( 1998 - 10 - 16 ). `` Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems ''. Science. 282 ( 5388 ) : 473 -- 476. Bibcode : 1998Sci... 282... 473E. doi : 10.1126 / science. 282.5388. 473. PMID 9774274. Jump up ^ Bystroff, Chris, `` The wolves of Yellowstone '' Archived 2011 - 07 - 20 at the Wayback Machine. ( 2006 - 04 - 17 ), p. 2. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Levy, Sharon ( November 2002 ). `` Top Dogs ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 06 - 06. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. ^ Jump up to : Wilmers, Christopher C. ( 2004 ). `` The gray wolf -- scavenger complex in Yellowstone National Park '' ( PDF ). Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2010 - 07 - 12. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Robbins, Jim ( May -- June 1998 ). `` Weaving a new web : wolves change an ecosystem ''. Smithsonian Zoogoer. Smithsonian Institution. 27 ( 3 ). Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Wilmers, Christopher C. ; Getz, Wayne M. ( April 2005 ). `` Gray wolves as climate change buffers in Yellowstone ''. PLoS Biology 3 ( 4 ) : e92. doi : 10.1371 / journal. pbio. 0030092. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ Bonhommeau, S. ; Dubroca, L. ; Le Pape, O. ; Barde, J. ; Kaplan, D.M. ; Chassot, E. ; Nieblas, A. - E. ( 2013 ). `` Eating up the world 's food web and the human trophic level ''. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 ( 51 ) : 20617 -- 20620. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 1305827110. ^ Jump up to : Roopnarine, Peter D. ( 2014 ). `` Humans are apex predators ''. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 ( 9 ) : E796 -- E796. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 1323645111. Jump up ^ Hammerschlag, Neil ; Gallagher, Austin J. ; Wester, Julia ; Luo, Jiangang ; Ault, Jerald S. ( 2012 ). `` Do n't bite the hand that feeds : assessing ecological impacts of provisioning ecotourism on an apex marine predator ''. Functional Ecology. 26 ( 3 ) : 567 -- 576. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1365 - 2435.2012. 01973. x. Jump up ^ Lister, Paul ( 28 April 2015 ). `` Bring on a few more apex predators ''. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 March 2018. Feeding behaviours Carnivores adult Hematophagy Insectivore Lepidophagy Man - eater Molluscivore Mucophagy Myrmecophagy Ophiophagy Piscivore Avivore Spongivore Vermivore reproductive Oophagy Paedophagy Placentophagy Breastfeeding Weaning cannibalistic Animal cannibalism Human cannibalism Self - cannibalism Sexual cannibalism Herbivores Folivore Florivore Frugivore Graminivore Granivore Nectarivore Palynivore Xylophagy Osteophagy Cellular Phagocytosis Myzocytosis Others Microbivory Bacterivore Fungivore Coprophagia Detritivore Geophagia Omnivore Planktivore Saprophagy Xenophagy Methods Ambush predator Apex predator Bait balls Bottom feeding Browsing Feeding frenzy Filter feeding Grazing Hypercarnivore Hypocarnivore Intraguild predation Kleptoparasitism Lunge feeding Mesocarnivore Pivot feeding Ram feeding Scavenging Suction feeding Trophallaxis Predation Antipredator adaptation Carnivorous plant Carnivorous fungus Carnivorous protist Category : Eating behaviors Ecology : Modelling ecosystems : Trophic components General Abiotic component Abiotic stress Behaviour Biogeochemical cycle Biomass Biotic component Biotic stress Carrying capacity Competition Ecosystem Ecosystem ecology Ecosystem model Keystone species List of feeding behaviours Metabolic theory of ecology Productivity Resource Producers Autotrophs Chemosynthesis Chemotrophs Foundation species Mixotrophs Myco - 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Question: what predator is at the top of the food chain
Answer: apex predator