Question

Apuk’we, the common cattail is a versatile native edible plant for the Ojibwe people of Minnesota. They are important to the ecosystem for many reasons. They help stabilize marshy borders of lakes and ponds, help protect shorelines from wave erosion, providing spawning areas for northern pike, provide cover and nesting sites for waterfowl and marsh birds such as the red-winged blackbird, are a food source for muskrats and beavers, and humans, too. However, where native cattails once stood, now there is a vast lawn of nonnative narrow-leaved cattails or their hybrid offspring. These new cattails are taking over wetlands once populated by the native cattails, decreasing the biodiversity in these areas.

What kind of ecological relationship exists between the native and nonnative species of cattails in the Minnesota wetlands?
A) commensalism
B) competition
C) mutualism
D) predation

Answer 1

Predation

Step-by-step explanation:

The way the question is worded, gives me the effect that the nonnative species of cattails predated the native species and ultimately, lowered their numbers.

I was torn between competition or predation, but it cannot be competition due to the effect it's having on the native species. In competition, there's obvious tension between the two, though in this scenario, the species is just lowered completely. There's a chance it could be competition though, I'm not really understanding the wording of the scenario given; that's just me though.

So, ultimately, it's predation.

Answer 2

B) Competition

Step-by-step explanation:

The native and non-native cattails are competing for the area.