Question

The population of mice in a local forest ecosystem has recently died out due to disease. In the past, these mice were the main predators of the forest beetles. What is the best prediction about what will happen to the beetles? A) The drop in the mouse population will lead to a drop in the beetle population. B) The drop in the mouse population will lead to no change in the beetle population. C) The drop in the mouse population will lead to an increase in the beetle population. D) The increase in the mouse population will lead to an increase in the beetle population.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option C, The drop in the mouse population will lead to an increase in the beetle population.

Step-by-step explanation:

As the population of mouse decreases, the number of predator gets reduced and thus the beetles are now exposed to a limited number of predators thereby limiting the competition. As the competition reduces, beetle now have larger exposure to the unlimited supply of resources and thus, there population shall increase tremendously due to restricted competition for resource.

Answer 2

C) The drop in the mouse population will lead to an increase in the beetle population.

The drop in the mouse population will lead to an increase in the beetle population. Since the mice are the beetles predator, when there are fewer mice, there will be more beetles.

~USATestprep~