Consider the food web seen here. One member, the northern spotted owl, lives in cavities of trees in old-growth forests. Old growth forests contain trees that are more than 200 years old and have not been cut, pruned, or managed. Imagine that these forests have been heavily logged. Predict the outcome on this food web if the habitat of the owl is removed.

A) The food web will collapse without this top-level consumer present.

B) The niche filled by the owl will be filled by other predators like the hawk and fox.

C) The niche filled by the owl will be empty. The other animals within the food web will grow unchecked.

D) Without the owl present, the empty niche will result in an overpopulation of hawks. Eventually the lower-level consumers will disappear.