What ecological relationship is exemplified by a predator and its prey?

The ecological relationship between a predator and its prey is best exemplified by the concept of predation. In this relationship, one organism, the predator, hunts, kills, and consumes another organism, the prey, as a source of food. This interaction is crucial in regulating populations within ecosystems, maintaining balance and contributing to ecological dynamics.

Predation is characterized by the direct consumption of one organism by another, which impacts both the prey's population and the predator's population. For example, if there are many prey available, the predator may thrive and reproduce successfully, leading to an increase in the predator population. Conversely, as the predator population grows and hunts more prey, the prey population may decrease, which can eventually lead to a decline in the predator population due to a lack of resources. This cyclical relationship demonstrates the dynamic interdependence between predators and their prey in an ecosystem.

In contrast, the other relationships listed—symbiosis (which often refers to mutually beneficial interactions), mutualism (a type of symbiosis where both parties benefit), and parasitism (where one organism benefits at the expense of another)—do not accurately capture the nature of the predator-prey interaction, which is inherently one organism feeding on another. Thus, predation