An ecologist was studying a tightly coupled trophic cascade off the coast of Ant

Question

An ecologist was studying a tightly coupled trophic cascade off the coast of Antarctica. The trophic cascade has four levels: leopard seals feed on Adele penguins, which feed on krill, which feed on phytoplankton. She recorded an increase in the abundance of leopard seals and predicted that she should also see (choose ALL options that are correct):

Question 22 options:

a decline in the number of penguins.

a decline in the abundance of phytoplankton.

an increase in the abundance of phytoplankton.

a decrease in the krill population.

an increase in the number of penguins.

a decline in the number of penguins.

a decline in the abundance of phytoplankton.

an increase in the abundance of phytoplankton.

a decrease in the krill population.

an increase in the number of penguins.

Explanation / Answer

Correct options are:

a) "A decline in the number of penguins" as leopard seals population is increased that leads to decrease in the abundance of penguins because leopard feeds on Adele penguins.

b) "A decline in the abundance of phytoplankton" as penguins feeds on krill and krill inturn feeds on phytoplankton and from the above answer we can observe that penguins get decreased which leads to increase in the krill population and increased krill population causes the reduction in the abundance of phytoplankton because krill feeds on phytoplankton.

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