Since this is called ECO, a focus on the Monster Hunter world having an ecology similar to ours (like in MHWorld) is interesting to me, since I've always been a biology buff. After all, super abilities and aggressive behavior aside, the monsters have always been portrayed as animals. Granted, the Elder Dragons (some of whom have been implied to be sentient) and the ???-class monsters (whose very appearance has been depicted as very Eldritch Abomination-y) are exceptions.

Forgive me for pulling a biology lesson out, but allow me to demonstrate.

[Center][IMG]http://images.tutorvista.com/content/ecosystem/food-web-grassland-ecosystem.jpeg[/IMG][/center]

At the bottom we have the producers (in Monster Hunter's case, the plants and mushrooms… or even [i]rocks[/i] in the case of some monsters). Next are the primary consumers (Herbivores, small monsters like Altaroth, and some Fanged Beasts and Wyverns), then the secondary consumers (anything that would feed on them, such as Bird Wyverns, Brute Wyverns, and Flying Wyverns); and finally, at the very top are the tertiary consumers (depending on how far it goes), AKA "super predators." These will eat whatever they can, be it an Aptonoth or a Velocidrome. The perfect example is the Astalos' intro video from MHGen and MHXX.

[Center][YouTube]https://youtu.be/fP3gTChuhmM[/YouTube][/center]