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Q1.5. The graph below presents population sizes in an experimental freshwater st

ID: 277219 • Letter: Q

Question

Q1.5. The graph below presents population sizes in an experimental freshwater stream with two species of algae and two species of aquatic insect larvae that eat the algae. Which of the following are possible explanations for the pattern illustrated in the graph? 100 T 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 t Algae 1 Algae Larva 1 Larva 2 Check all that apply: Larva 1 is a superior competitor to larva 2 and prefers to eat algae 2. Larva 1 is a superior competitor to larva 2, and algae 1 is a superior competitor to algae 2. Larva 1 and 2 are equal as competitors but larva 1 exclusively eats algae 2, while larva 2 eats both algae. Submit

Explanation / Answer

from the given graph, we can deduce that the population size of algae 1 is greater than that of algae 2. similarly population size of larva 1 is greater than that of larva 2.

however, we cannot deduce which larva is feeding on which algae. since algae 2 are less in population, we may assume that they are being eaten at a higher rate. however, we cannot correlate this with specific larva.

options 1 and 3 cannot be deduced.

option 2 (larva 1 is superior competitor to larva 2, and algae 1 is superior competitor to algae2)