Answer:
See the answer below
Explanation:
<em>The carrying capacity of the ecosystem for the white-footed mouse reduced in response to the changes in the amount of worm infected mice in the population.</em>
The carrying capacity of an ecosystem for a particular population of organisms is the maximum number of organisms the ecosystem can support based on the resources it has.
<u>The ideal carrying capacity of the ecosystem for the white-footed mouse oscillates between 36 to 40 in graph 1. The carrying capacity range reduced in graph 2 from 36 - 40 to 30 - 36 as a result of changes made to the number of mice infected with parasitic worms in the population of the animal. </u>
Thus, the introduction of more worm-infected mice into the population probably put more pressure on the ecosystem resources thereby reducing the carrying capacity.
The studies are designed this way b/c it removes the power of suggestion and the double-blind study keeps both researchers and participants in the dark. So this compared to who is receiving the treatment which is relevant b/c it stops the researchers from accidentally overbalancing the study participants, or unintentionally favoring their assessment of the conclusions.