Question.
Will the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level be different for different trophic levels? Can the organisms of any trophic level be removed without causing any damage to the ecosystem ?
Will the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level be different for different trophic levels? Can the organisms of any trophic level be removed without causing any damage to the ecosystem ?
solution:
Yes, the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level will be different for different trophic levels.
For example : Consider the following food chain: Plants $\longrightarrow$ Deer $\longrightarrow$ Lion.
If all the lions are removed then the population of deer will increase to such a larger extent and this may result in the following problems:
(i) Due to over-grazing caused by deers soil erosion can take place and forest area will get affected.
(ii) Due to large deer population competition for food will start.
Similarly, if deers are removed then carnivores will get affected. Whereas removal of producers (plants) will affect both deers and lions.
This all suggests that all different organisms in a food chain are linked together and removal of any organism will have different effect but it will cause an ill effect on the stability of that ecosystem.
Yes, the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level will be different for different trophic levels.
For example : Consider the following food chain: Plants $\longrightarrow$ Deer $\longrightarrow$ Lion.
If all the lions are removed then the population of deer will increase to such a larger extent and this may result in the following problems:
(i) Due to over-grazing caused by deers soil erosion can take place and forest area will get affected.
(ii) Due to large deer population competition for food will start.
Similarly, if deers are removed then carnivores will get affected. Whereas removal of producers (plants) will affect both deers and lions.
This all suggests that all different organisms in a food chain are linked together and removal of any organism will have different effect but it will cause an ill effect on the stability of that ecosystem.