Consider the following statements concerning food chains :-
(i) Removal of 80% tigers from an area resulted in greatly increased growth of vegetation
(ii) Removal of most of the carnivores resulted in an increased population of deers
(iii) The length of food chains is generally limited to 3-4 trophic levels due to energy loss.
(iv) The length of food chains may very from 2 to 8 trophic levels.
Which two of the above statements are correct?
Text Solution
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Statement (ii) is correct because removing top carnivores reduces predation pressure, leading to an explosion in the population of herbivores like deer.
Statement (iii) is correct because energy is lost as heat at each transfer, usually leaving too little energy to support more than 3–4 trophic levels.
Statement (i) is incorrect because fewer tigers would lead to more herbivores, which would then decrease vegetation due to overgrazing.
Statement (iv) is incorrect because a food chain with 8 levels is energetically impossible in most natural ecosystems.
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