Question

Drag each tile to the correct location on the chart. A population of raccoons lives in a forested area with lots of trees. The raccoons eat insects, eggs, berries, nuts, and small animals such as rodents and frogs. One of the main predators of the raccoons are coyotes, which also prey on rabbits. Identify whether the changes to the ecosystem are more likely to increase or decrease the population of raccoons. Large parts of the forest are cut down for wood. Frogs in a pond near the forest experience a population surge. A disease decreases the population of rabbits in the forest. Pollution from a nearby farm decreases the population of insects in the forest. Additional rain increases the population of plants in the forest. More permits to hunt coyotes are approved.

Answer 1

The population of raccoons will increase.

The raccoons are one of the most opportunistic mammals when it comes to feeding. They are omnivores, and they eat pretty much everything that is eatable and falls in their arms. They are also not that heavily dependent on the forest for survival, as they can live in multitude of environments and are easily adaptable.

While the cutting of the forest may make some small initial problems in the plant based food supply, the increase of the frogs will balance that, so the menu of the raccoons  will just be more animal based. Because of the increase in the plant populations because of the increased rainfall, new opportunities for feeding will open up for the raccoons for their plant based diet, so they will have an abundance of food.

The decrease of the rabbit populations and the increased permits for hunting the coyote, will mean decrease in the population of the coyotes, thus the raccoons will lose their prime predator.

The big amount of food and the loss of the prime predator will mean that the raccoon population will increase.