Question

Which part of a food chain will be affected if one animal goes extinct?

• A. The whole food chain is affected.
• B. Only animals at the top of the food chain are affected.
• C. Only plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain are affected.
• D. Only producers and decomposers are affected.

Answer 1

The correct option is A The whole food chain is affected.

Members of the food chain interact with one another and with their environment as part of a complex, interlocking ecological system. Every organism is a part of food chain. Extinction of one species has an effect on all the organisms involved in that food chain. For example, consider the following food chain.
$\mathrm{Grass}\to \mathrm{Insect}\to \mathrm{Frog}\to \mathrm{Snake}$
If the frogs go extinct, the population of insects will increase thus increasing their feed on grass and reducing the population of grass. This reduction in population of grass can eventually cause a decline in insect population too.
The snakes would not get proper food due to extinction of frogs, resulting in their population decrease.