What role do predators play in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem?
a)
they ensure that the ecosystem is not stripped entirely of its vegetation.
b)
they ensure the transfer of energy from plants to the rest of the food web.
c)
they are primarily responsible for the transfer of nutrients to the plants.
d)
they are primarily responsible for the cross pollination of plants in the ecosystem.

The correct answer is - A) They ensure that the ecosystem is not stripped entirely of its vegetation.

The ecological pole of the predators is to maintain the balance between the herbivores and the vegetation. By being able to kill and eat large numbers of herbivores, the predators do not allow their numbers to grow over what is an optimum for the survival of the ecosystem.

If there's no predators, for only a very short time, the numbers of herbivores will grow significantly, to the point where pretty much all of the vegetation will be stripped, thus ending without food and dying out very quickly, as well as damaging almost all vegetation and contributing to its dying out.

producers: apple trees, potatoes, carrots, grains, acorns, cabbage, grass, corn, lettuce

consumers: deer, mice, rabbits, chickens, squirrels, horses, worms, cows

predators: eagles, frogs, wolves, owls