The diagrams below show very simplified species relationships for certain areas

Question

The diagrams below show very simplified species relationships for certain areas of African savanna. Use these simplified diagrams to answer the questions below. (Real-world savannas support more species with more complex relationships.) Savanna Food Web Lions Cheetahs Elephants Zebra Gazelle Shrubs Grasses Trees Competition Among Savannah Plants Trees Shrubs Grasses Q6. If you fenced a plot of land in the savanna so that animals were completely excluded, over time, which type of plant would dominate the plot, according to the diagrams? Grasses Shrubs Trees None will dominate.

Explanation / Answer

African savanna food web is portrayed here to show the food chain and dependence among the producers and consumers.

The primary producers along with the primary and secondary level consumers are middle and top of the food chain.

Now getting into the specific questions: The competition is showing among the savanna plants as grasses and shrubs are dependent on plants. For protection from animals grasses and shrubs are having thorns, also they are stronghold by the trees, sometime in their shed they grow, also the shrubs spreads their webs in and around plants.

However, the grass and tree coexistence is of certain importance, as we know that grasses suppress the saplings growth and they are also abundant even in the dry season.

Q 6. Would give us an answer as Grasses would be thriving.

When the savanna food chain id dependent largely on grasses so there is a chance that they are getting destroyed more, now if the animal grazing is stopped the grasses will be freely growing out casting or suppressing the growth of shrubs and trees, as they are in direct competition with both.

Q7. Lions are the secondary consumers and they are depending on the grasses as the primary producers. SO their removal would be having a positive effect on Zebra number, which will increase. But their number would not affect the number of Elephant or Cheetahs, as they are not competing with each other.

Here the Zebra number will increase, that will affect the grasses, as there will be more consumption of grasses by Zebras.

Q8. There would be fewer grasses, as the Gazelle number will increase if Cheetah’s are not hunting them, so they will eat more of grasses in their growing number in savanna ecosystem.

Q9. If Elephants are eliminated, that affects the grass population as they will increase in their population and area. Now they are not getting consumed in a huge number so competition wise among the plants and grasses, the grass population start to suppress the plant population. The right answer choice will be number of plants will decrease.

Q 10.Elephants are a keystone species. Elephants eat small trees, which grow on the savanna. Also their vegetation include the shrubs and grasses, so their removal would be a indicated by the ecosystem change.

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