What best describes a predator-prey relationship in an ecosystem?

• A. Predators are plant-eaters that hunt in groups.
• B. Prey chase predators away using alarms.
• C. A predator hunts and eats prey.
• D. Predators and prey never interact in an ecosystem.

Answer: (C)

Predator-prey interactions show how energy moves in an ecosystem: one organism (the predator) hunts and eats another (the prey) to gain energy for survival. This describes the feeding relationship at the heart of predation, where the predator benefits by obtaining food and the prey is harmed by being eaten. An example is a fox catching a rabbit—the fox gains energy from the meal, and the rabbit population can be reduced as a result. The other statements either describe herbivory, alarm signals that don’t define the relationship, or claim no interaction at all, none of which capture how predators obtain energy by feeding on prey.