Question

Observe the following food chain:
$Grassplants\to Rabbits\to Foxes$
What would happen to the number of grass plants and foxes, if the number of rabbits:
(a) increased? [1 Mark]
(b) decreased? [1 Mark]

Answer 1

(a) If the number of rabbits increases, it will lead to rabbits consuming more grass plants, and hence grass plants will become sparser. As foxes consume rabbits, any increase in the number of rabbits will lead to an increase in the number of foxes.
[1 Mark]
(b) If the number of rabbits decreases, then there will be less food for foxes. Hence, they will not be able to survive, because of the shortage of food, and their number will decrease. A decrease in the number of rabbits will lead to an increase in the density of grass plants, as there will be fewer rabbits to consume them.
[1 Mark]