Question

this food chain shows organisms in a grassland ecosystem.
use the food chain to complete the text below.
if the population of long - tailed weasels decreases, the population of deer mice will likely

, and the population of golden eagles will likely

.

Explanation:

In the food chain (slender wheatgrass → katydid → deer mouse → long - tailed weasel → golden eagle), long - tailed weasels eat deer mice. If long - tailed weasels' population decreases, deer mice have fewer predators, so their population will increase. Golden eagles eat long - tailed weasels. With fewer long - tailed weasels, golden eagles have less of this food source. But also, as deer mice population increases, there could be more competition or other factors, but directly, since long - tailed weasels are prey for golden eagles, a decrease in long - tailed weasels would initially lead to a decrease in golden eagles' food from this source. However, the main relationship here is: long - tailed weasels (predator of deer mice) decrease → deer mice (prey) increase; long - tailed weasels (prey of golden eagles) decrease → golden eagles (predator) - since their prey (long - tailed weasels) is less, and if we consider the chain, with deer mice increasing, but golden eagles eat long - tailed weasels. So the population of deer mice will likely increase, and the population of golden eagles will likely decrease (because their food source, long - tailed weasels, is reduced).

Answer:

If the population of long - tailed weasels decreases, the population of deer mice will likely increase, and the population of golden eagles will likely decrease.