In a paddy-field ecosystem, frogs feed on grasshoppers and snakes feed on frogs. If the frog population suddenly declines, the most likely immediate effect is:

1. Frogs eat grasshoppers, so fewer frogs means grasshoppers face less predation and increase. 2. Snakes feed on frogs, so fewer frogs means less food for snakes, and snakes decrease. 3. Option saying grasshoppers decrease ignores loss of their predator, so it is wrong. 4. Option saying both increase or both decrease ignores the opposite effects on the two levels. 5. Hence grasshoppers increase and snakes decrease. _Source: Balbharati (Maharashtra Board) Class 10 Science & Technology Part 2, Ch 4 "Environmental Management", p.46_