Original Project
Interdependence in Ecosystems
Given adequate resources and an absence of disease or predators, populations of organisms in ecosystems can incr…
Item IE027005: Changes in a population in a food web (grasshoppers) can affect the populations of both its predator (frogs) and its prey (grass).
The diagram below shows the feeding relationships between populations of organisms in an area. The arrows point from the organisms being eaten to the organisms eating them.
Using only the relationships between the organisms shown in the diagram, if most of the grasshoppers are killed, which of the following describes what will happen to the amount of grass and the number of frogs?
- The amount of grass will increase, and the number of frogs will decrease.
- The amount of grass will decrease, and the number of frogs will increase.
- The amount of grass will increase, and the number of frogs will stay the same.
- The amount of grass will stay the same, and the number of frogs will decrease.
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 3287 |
6–8 n = 790 |
9–12 n = 2484 |
Male n = 1540 |
Female n = 1671 |
English n = 2925 |
Other n = 256 |
||
| A. | The amount of grass will increase, and the number of frogs will decrease. | 75% | 66% | 78% | 75% | 75% | 76% | 65% |
| B. | The amount of grass will decrease, and the number of frogs will increase. | 7% | 11% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 11% |
| C. | The amount of grass will increase, and the number of frogs will stay the same. | 8% | 11% | 7% | 7% | 9% | 8% | 11% |
| D. | The amount of grass will stay the same, and the number of frogs will decrease. | 10% | 12% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 13% |