What would happen if opossums went extinct?

I have to do a report for school about how certain animals effect an ecosystem. Please help!What would happen if opossums went extinct?
Removing a single species from a complex ecological network or ecosystem has unpredictable results. Oh, you could guess what some might be, but the entire system would adjust. For example, possums eat much of the same things as skunks. So an absence of possums should result in a surplus of skunks. But possums are more arboreal than skunks and probably eat insects and other prey that skunks cannot reach...such as bird chicks and eggs. So an increase in certain arboreal insect and bird species might also be expected.





You have to know a great deal about an entire ecosystem to predict such changes. And human responses must also be taken into consideration since we've become so much a factor in all ecosystems. What would humans do if possums went extinct and the skunk population doubled or tripled? Or if the main species of bird to benefit was the destructive starling? Or if the main insects to benefit were ones which killed certain trees?





Have fun with this one, kid. It will teach you to think in terms of cause and effect.