Which of the following statements best describes the top-down effect in an ecosystem?

The availability of producers like plants determines the population size of all consumers.

The population size of a predator directly influences the population size of its prey.

Decomposers control the flow of energy from the top of the food web to the bottom.

Predators and prey populations always grow and shrink together in a direct relationship.

In a stable forest ecosystem, what is the most likely immediate outcome if a wolf population (consumer) experiences a significant increase?

The deer population (resource) will also increase.

The deer population (resource) will decrease.

The amount of grass and shrubs will decrease.

There will be no change in the deer population.

The mouse population will likely increase due to lower predation pressure from the snakes.

The mouse population will decrease because their main predator is gone and the ecosystem is unstable.

The mouse population will not be affected, as their numbers are only controlled by their food supply.

The mouse population will migrate to a different area to find new predators.

It guarantees that resources are always abundant for all consumers.

It prevents prey populations from growing uncontrollably.

It ensures predators and prey have the exact same population size.

It increases the overall number of species in the ecosystem.

Both populations increase or decrease at the same time.

The populations are completely independent of one another.

As the consumer population increases, the resource population tends to decrease.

The resource population's size always determines the consumer population's size.