Refer to the Table and the Figure

Question

Examlex · Accepted Answer

The Answer is a) In the community during year 12, species H is a primary producer but is not actually consumed by any of the other species in the community, so it is not actually part of the food web at year 12.
b) None of the other species in year 12 consumed species H, so we would have predicted that the community should have completely collapsed after losing the only primary producer that was actually consumed (species G). However, based on data in year 15, we see that the community has persisted, and abundances of the other species have not changed much, which is contrary to these predictions. If the primary consumers switched from consuming species G to consuming species H once species G disappeared, the community could have persisted. If the food web was constructed at year 15, it would likely be very similar to the web for year 12, except that species H would occupy the role of primary producer and be consumed by the primary consumers, instead of species G, and species G would no longer appear in the food web. Species D and E would also appear in the food web at year 15, but their roles would have to be determined by their consumption patterns and a complete year 15 food web; without this data, we cannot determine how they would fit into the food web.

Refer to the Table and the Figure

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