The illustration below is a food chain. Grass→grasshopper→domestic fowl→hawk What would happen if the population of domestic fowl decreases?

Answer Details

If the population of domestic fowl decreases, the grasshopper population would increase. This is because domestic fowl are predators of grasshoppers, so if their population decreases, there will be fewer predators to control the grasshopper population. As a result, the grasshopper population will increase, which could lead to overgrazing and depletion of the grasses available to grasshoppers. This could, in turn, affect the entire food chain, as there may not be enough grasses available to support the grasshoppers, which are the primary food source for the domestic fowl and the hawk. The hawk population may also decline if there are not enough grasshoppers available to support their diet. Therefore, a decrease in the population of one species in a food chain can have a cascading effect on the entire ecosystem.