Practice question

The reported figure supports statements (i) and (iii), meaning those claims are the ones consistent with the plotted predator-prey responses. Predator-prey data are usually read by comparing timing, direction, and magnitude of changes: prey often increase before predators, predator growth follows greater food availability, and rising predation can subsequently depress prey. Valid statements must follow the axes, treatment labels, and temporal lags rather than assume that correlation alone proves causation. Statements (ii) and (iv) evidently conflict with at least one of those graphical features. Since neither the figure nor the four statement texts are stored in the workbook, further specificity would fabricate evidence; the keyed pair should be understood as the graph-consistent interpretation. This interpretation follows ecological definitions based on effects on fitness, energy flow, behavior, and population performance. It also shows why superficially similar alternatives can represent different mechanisms once the direction of benefit, harm, or resource transfer is considered.