Dr Rana Hamza Shakil thank you for your contribution to the discussion

Predator and prey populations cycle through time, as predators decrease numbers of prey. Lack of food resources in turn decrease predator abundance, and the lack of predation pressure allow prey populations to rebound. This is because as the predators continue to eat the prey, the prey population will fall and become insufficient to support the predator population which itself then falls. However, as the predator population falls, more of the preys survive and consequently the prey population will then increase. As the prey population increases, there is more food for predators. So, after a slight lag, the predator population increases as well. As the number of predators’ increases, more prey is captured. Predators are fewer in number than prey because they are higher up the food chain. In a food chain, an organism passes on only part of the energy it receives from food. With less energy, each level in a food chain supports fewer individuals than the one below it. As predator numbers increase, prey populations decline, leading to a decrease in predators. This allows prey populations to recover, restarting the cycle. The snowshoe hare and Canadian lynx exemplify this ecological relationship through observed population fluctuations over time. With no predators to control the population and alter feeding behavior, the prey species quickly degrade and over-run its habitat. As food becomes scarce, the population becomes sick and malnourished, and will either move or crash. Carrying capacity refers to the number of predators and prey that can live in an area. Too many predators and not enough prey leads to predators starving and dying because they can't find enough food. Predation often greatly reduces prey population density and alters community composition and species diversity. Predation can have a positive effect on prey community diversity when predators feed more on superior competitors, which would, without predators, dominate the community. Predators keep the prey population under control. The prey species could achieve very high population densities and cause ecosystem instability in the absence of predators. Predators also help in maintaining species diversity in a community, by reducing the intensity of competition among competing prey species. As predator populations increase, they put greater strain on the prey populations and act as a top-down control, pushing them toward a state of decline. Thus both availability of resources and predation pressure affect the size of prey populations.