What is the term for one animal killing another for food?

The term that describes one animal killing another for food is predation. This ecological interaction involves a predator, which is the animal that hunts, and its prey, which is the animal that is killed and consumed. Predation is a crucial aspect of many ecosystems as it helps regulate populations of species within a community, influences the distribution of organisms, and can lead to evolutionary adaptations in both predators and prey.

The concept of predation emphasizes the dynamic relationship between species in a food chain, highlighting the role of energy transfer as one organism relies on another for sustenance. This interaction can affect various aspects of the ecosystem, including population dynamics, community structure, and biodiversity.

Amensalism refers to a relationship where one organism is harmed while the other is unaffected, which does not involve killing for food. Parasitism involves one organism benefiting at the expense of another, typically without killing it outright, while symbiosis describes mutually beneficial relationships. These concepts differ significantly from predation as they do not involve the direct killing of one organism by another for nutritional purposes.