ECOLOGY
ENERGY FLOW AND THE FOOD CHAIN
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Every food chain depends entirely on a single species
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Food chains are extremely fragile
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Food chains can regenerate on their own
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Food chains would not exist without humans
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Detailed explanation-1: -What can you infer from the fact that the disappearance of just one species can disrupt an entire food chain? every food chain depends entirely on a single species.
Detailed explanation-2: -The species that make up an ecosystem are connected in complex ‘food webs’ of eater and eaten. When one species disappears, its predators can no longer eat it and its prey are no longer eaten by it. Changes in these populations affect others. Such impact ‘cascades’ can be unpredictable and sometimes catastrophic.
Detailed explanation-3: -As species go extinct, they are taken out of the food chain. Animals that ate the newly-extinct species have to find new food sources or starve. This can damage the populations of other plants or animals. Furthermore, if a predator goes extinct, its prey’s population can proliferate, unbalancing local ecosystems.
Detailed explanation-4: -If one species is removed it can affect the whole community. This is called interdependence. A stable community is one where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant.
Detailed explanation-5: -How might a lack of sunlight disrupt the food web? Producers would die, and if producers died, consumers would die too.