Question

this food chain shows organisms in a tundra ecosystem. use the food chain to complete the text below. if the population of parasitic jaegers decreases, the population of rough - legged hawks will likely, and the population of short - tailed weasels will likely.

Explanation:

1. Analyze the food chain: Bear sedge → Brown lemming → Short - tailed weasel → Parasitic jaeger → Rough - legged hawk.
2. For the first blank (population of rough - legged hawks): Parasitic jaegers are prey for rough - legged hawks. If the population of parasitic jaegers decreases, there is less food for rough - legged hawks. According to the principle of predator - prey relationships, when the prey population decreases, the predator population (rough - legged hawks) is likely to decrease.
3. For the second blank (population of short - tailed weasels): Parasitic jaegers are predators of short - tailed weasels. If the population of parasitic jaegers decreases, the pressure of predation on short - tailed weasels is reduced. So the population of short - tailed weasels is likely to increase.

Answer:

First blank: decrease
Second blank: increase