Question

consider the following food chain:
plants are eaten by grasshoppers, which are eaten by mice, which are eaten by snakes.
what will happen to snakes in the long term if mice become extinct?
a. the number of snakes will increase temporarily, and then decrease.
b. the number of snakes will decrease temporarily, but they will not die out completely.
c. the number of snakes will decrease permanently.
d. snakes will die out if they do not find an alternative food source
please select the best answer from the choices provided
○ a
○ b
○ c
○ d

Explanation:

In the food chain (Plants→Grasshoppers→Mice→Snakes), if mice (snakes' primary food) go extinct, snakes lose their main food source. If they can't find an alternative, they'll die out. Option A is wrong (no mice, snakes can't increase). Option B: no mice long - term, not temporary decrease then increase. Option C: without mice and no alternative, they won't just decrease permanently but likely die out. So D is correct.

Answer:

D. Snakes will die out if they do not find an alternative food source