Question

What will happen if deer is missing in the food chain given below?
Grass🡪Deer🡪Tiger
A) The population of tiger increases
B) The population of grass decrease
C) Tiger will start eating grass
D) The population of tiger decrease and the population of grass increases

Answer 1

Food chain is the relationship between organisms in terms of eating and being eaten. The transfer of matter or energy takes place in the form of food. The food chain helps in maintaining the ecological balance.

Complete answer:
To solve this question, we must know about the significance of the food chain.
A food chain is a sequence which shows how the relationship of organisms with one another by the food they eat. Each level is the trophic level.
Levels of food chain-

Producers:-The producers occupy the first level. They can prepare their own food and are not dependent on others for food. All the plants, algae are the producers.
Consumers:- The organisms which depend on other organisms for food are called the consumers.
Primary consumers:- They depend on the producers for food. Example- Deer
Secondary consumers:- They feed on the primary consumers. For example bear, fox, tiger.
According to the question, in the given food chain Grass🡪Deer🡪Tiger, Deer are missing.
The tiger is a secondary consumer which eats deer. If the deer is missing, there will be no food for the tiger. The tiger will starve and the population will decrease. On the other hand grass is eaten by deer. So if deer are missing, the population of grass will increase.

Thus the correct answer is option (D).

Note: All the plants are producers and the animals are the consumers. The flow of energy is unidirectional. If any of the trophic levels are missing, the ecological balance will be disturbed.