Food Chain and Web Provide an Example

Food Chain and Web Provide an example of a food chain in the area where you live. Grass ? Deer ? Mountain Lion Humans are parts of food chains and food webs, too. Where on a food web would you typically find humans (near the bottom with the producers, at the top with the carnivores, or somewhere in between)? Human beings are found near the top of food webs and chains. We are not carnivores, but omnivores, meaning we can eat both plants and animals.

There are some animals which prey on human beings, but there is no animal that feeds exclusively or nearly exclusively on animals. What are some of the advantages of being part of a food web rather than a food chain? As a member of a food web rather than a food chain, the organism has more options about what they can possibly eat. For example, a chain would show that corn is eating by rabbits that are then eaten by humans.

However, a food web shows that human beings might also eat corn or that other organisms might also eat the rabbit. Part II: 1. In the Lake Michigan food web, is it possible to identify the most important producer? Why or why not? It would seem that the green algae are the most important producer as it is eaten by the most species (Mason). However, all the producers are important because the subsequent trophic levels are equally dependent on them regardless of the number of species that eat that producer. 2.

What would happen if there was a change in the population size for any one of the producers (either an increase or a decrease)? How could these changes impact other producers and organisms on other trophic levels? If there were either a population increase or decrease in the producers, then it would directly impact the other trophic levels. More producers would mean that more population of the next trophic level could be sustained, while fewer producers would mean that fewer members of the next trophic level could be sustained.

This would be true for all subsequent levels because each directly impacts the others. a. Provide at least two types of impacts that humans could have on this food web. Humans could over fish the second to top trophic layer such as by killing too many yellow perch or rainbow smelt. Then the highest trophic level fish would not have enough fish to eat and their population numbers would decrease or even become extinct. Humans could also upset this food web by introducing chemicals into the habitat.

If this happened, it could kill one of the species of organisms which would then upset the balance of the food web. 3. Provide a potential mechanism for how the lamprey was introduced to Lake Michigan. According to scientific researchers, lampreys came to Lake Michigan via manmade waterways (Scott). Shipping canals were cut creating a waterway to allow fisherman in Lake Michigan to reach the Pacific Ocean which allowed for the introduction of foreign creatures into habitats which were unprepared for them. 4.

What challenges could occur within a food web when a new predator like this is introduced into an ecosystem? When a new predator is introduced into an ecosystem, it competes with current predators for food organisms which results in the eradication of other populations. Since the other organisms have not adapted to protect themselves from this predator, it will be.