(a) Why are herbivores considered similar to predators in the ecological context ? Explain.
(b) Differentiate between the following interspecific interactions in a population :
(i) Mutualism and Competition.
(ii) Commensalism and Amensalism.

Explanation

(a) For a predator most probably it is tiger and the deer that readily come to our mind, but a sparrow eating any seed is no less a predator. Although animals eating plants are separately as herbivores, they are in a broad ecological context, not very different from predators.
Besides acting as "conduits" for energy transfer across trophic levels, predators, play other important roles.
They keep prey populations under control.
(b)