Consider this food web. It is rich with animal species that fill a variety of niches within the ecosystem. Imagine that a local farmer has sprayed the area with insecticide. Predict how this might impact the food web and the roles each organism plays within it.
A) The entire food web would be impacted. The base of the food web, the herbivores, would be eliminated. The food web would collapse without this niche being filled.
B) Although the farmer's spray would wipe out the insects, the other herbivores, rabbits, squirrels, mice and birds, would take over the empty niches and the food web would continue with very little change.
C) One section of the food web would be greatly impacted: the section containing the insects and insect-eating animals. Without insects and possibly spiders, there would be no food for the toads and insectivorous birds.
D) One section of the food web would be greatly impacted: the section contains the insects and insect-eating animals. Without insects and possibly spiders, there would be no food for the toads and birds including the hawks and owls.