Graphs of Competition and Predation
Competition and predation are two really important relationships in an ecosystem. Predation consists of an animal hutning another animal by using its adaptation and/or different strategies. Competition on the other hand is two or more species fighting for the same specie or species. These both affect the population of different species that are affected.
Competition Graph: Jackrabbit, Whiptail and Ringtail
This is the competition graph between Black Tailed Jackrabbit, Western Whiptail and Ringtail Cat. The red lines represents the population of the Western Whiptail. The blue lines represent the population of Black Tailed Jackrabbit. The green lines represent the population of Ringtails Cats. These three populations hunt the same animals. As you can see, while the Western Whiptail and the Ringtail Cat’s populations are increasing, the population of Black Tailed Jackrabbit is decreasing. This happens since the population of Western Whiptail and the Ringtail Cat are increasingly, taking more food, the population of the Black Tailed Jackrabbit is decreasing since there is not much food left for them. From this you can see how the competition can affect not one, not two but three species at the same time.
Jackrabbit and Edith's Checkerspot Population
This is the predator prey graph between Black Tailed Jackrabbit and Edith’s Checkerspot. The red lines are representing the population of Edith’s Checkerspot. The blue lines are representing the population of the Black Tailed Jackrabbit. As you can see, when the population increases for the Black Tailed Jackrabbit the Edith’s Checkerspot population decreases. From this you can see how the two species, predator and prey, are related to each other.
Pika and Rigntail Population
This is the predator prey graph between Pika and Ringtail Cat. The red lines are representing the population of Ringtail Cat. The blue lines are representing the population of Pika. As you can see, it is odd that when the population of Pika has increased when the population of the Ringtail Cat are decreased. This happens since other preys, including humans, kill more Ringtail Cat and made the Pika population increase. From this you can see how the preys are the limiting factors of the predators.