The animal I chose for my freshman pre-ap biology final is important for many reasons. It has a hand in shaping food chains around the world as well as controlling rabbit populations and aiding farmers.
Foxes are opportunistic feeders. They eat many things, thus controlling the population of both plants and animals. Like any animal, they support the food chain. Most foxes are either omnivores or carnivores, which makes them extremely important to the food web. Regardless of whether or not they are at the top of their respective food webs they play a vital role in the sustenance of their habitat. If a fox is at the top of the food chain and it disappears suddenly then there would be a sudden increase in the population of it’s prey and a decrease in the …show more content…
These foxes have been successfully employed on fruit farms to control pests while leaving the fruit wholly intact, as they have no interest in consuming anything but the flesh of other animals. Just stay away from the frugivorous Blanford’s Fox! Another upside to carnivorous foxes is that they are a natural predator to rabbits, an invasive species which has overcome Europe, and more recently Australia. Rabbits are able to decimate the natural grasses in any habitat they are introduced to, which reduces the amount of energy available to native species and can cause extinctions.
Opportunistic foxes like the Sechuran Fox, Bengal Fox, and Red Fox help to use nutrients in the ecosystem that may otherwise be broken back down into humus. They can be found cleaning up carcasses and eating partially rotten fruit off the ground. This can be a problem, though, when they move into territory inhabited by humans, as they will see our garbage as an opportunity to feed and often die after ingesting plastic or metal waste. These foxes are also tempted, much like cats, by substances such as rat poison or
Foxes are opportunistic feeders. They eat many things, thus controlling the population of both plants and animals. Like any animal, they support the food chain. Most foxes are either omnivores or carnivores, which makes them extremely important to the food web. Regardless of whether or not they are at the top of their respective food webs they play a vital role in the sustenance of their habitat. If a fox is at the top of the food chain and it disappears suddenly then there would be a sudden increase in the population of it’s prey and a decrease in the …show more content…
These foxes have been successfully employed on fruit farms to control pests while leaving the fruit wholly intact, as they have no interest in consuming anything but the flesh of other animals. Just stay away from the frugivorous Blanford’s Fox! Another upside to carnivorous foxes is that they are a natural predator to rabbits, an invasive species which has overcome Europe, and more recently Australia. Rabbits are able to decimate the natural grasses in any habitat they are introduced to, which reduces the amount of energy available to native species and can cause extinctions.
Opportunistic foxes like the Sechuran Fox, Bengal Fox, and Red Fox help to use nutrients in the ecosystem that may otherwise be broken back down into humus. They can be found cleaning up carcasses and eating partially rotten fruit off the ground. This can be a problem, though, when they move into territory inhabited by humans, as they will see our garbage as an opportunity to feed and often die after ingesting plastic or metal waste. These foxes are also tempted, much like cats, by substances such as rat poison or