Question

this question has two parts. use the information to answer part a and part b. today, there is a forest with only ferns and tall trees. there are no young trees and not much wildlife. forty years ago, people cut - down all the trees and planted tree seedlings. the deer population increased. scientists put up fencing to keep deer out. in some fenced areas, scientists removed the ferns too. in other fenced areas, they left the ferns. the graph shows the results. a forest food web: hawk, squirrel, coyote, deer, tall tree, tree seedling, fern, shrub. how well tree seedlings grow in fenced areas: bar chart with ferns removed and ferns not removed categories and years on x - axis and number of seedlings on y - axis. part a which description best applies to the forest ecosystem today? a. a stable ecosystem b. a declining ecosystem part b based on the data, which relationship is most likely affecting the forest ecosystem today? a. deer are starting to feed on ferns to survive. b. trees are blocking sunlight to understory plants. c. predators are reducing the deer population near ferns. d. ferns are outcompeting tree seedlings for space and resources.

Explanation:

For Part A, the forest has only ferns and tall trees, no young trees and not much wildlife, indicating a declining ecosystem. For Part B, the graph shows that tree - seedlings grow better when ferns are removed, suggesting ferns are outcompeting tree - seedlings for space and resources.

Answer:

Part A: B. a declining ecosystem
Part B: D. Ferns are outcompeting tree seedlings for space and resources.