Question

Organisms are dependent on each other for the energy they need to survive.

Diagram, from left to right: plants, rodent, snake, hawk.

Photos (left to right) by Mehmet Karatay, Jens Buurgaard Nielsen, Furryscaly, and Walter Siegmund

What would occur if the snake population is removed from the ecosystem pictured above?

the hawk population increases
the mouse population increases
the leaf population increases
the mouse population is not affected

Answer 1

the mouse population increases

Removing snakes removes a key predator of the rodents, so predation pressure falls and the rodent population would grow (which would then likely reduce plant/leaf abundance and eventually affect hawks).