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A student was investigating the populations of organisms in a garden - Edexcel - GCSE Biology Combined Science - Question 1 - 2019 - Paper 1
Question 1
A student was investigating the populations of organisms in a garden. Figure 1 shows the estimates of the number and biomass of some of the organisms in the garden.... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A student was investigating the populations of organisms in a garden - Edexcel - GCSE Biology Combined Science - Question 1 - 2019 - Paper 1
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Step 2
Explain how killing the slugs would affect the population of earthworms in this garden.
Answer
Killing the slugs would likely have a positive effect on the population of earthworms for a couple of reasons.
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Decreased Predation: Since hedgehogs primarily feed on slugs and earthworms, reducing the number of slugs would lessen the food competition for the hedgehogs. This means more earthworms could survive without being eaten by hedgehogs, thereby increasing their population.
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More Resources Available: The decreased presence of slugs means that the food sources for hedgehogs may become limited which could lead hedgehogs to rely more on other food sources available, such as cabbages. Therefore, the population of earthworms would most likely rise as fewer will be consumed.