Food Web
Prepared by: Ms. Mekhan
Recall: Food Chains
Food chains follow a single path as animals eat each other
Do these animals live in the same habitat?
Shrub
Rabbit Lion
Shrub
Deer Tiger
How do we show how animals in different food chains that are found in
the same habitat are connected?
What is a food web?
A food web shows how Tiger
all of the food chains in Lion
an ecosystem are
connected.
This is because each
Rabbit
organism in an
ecosystem occupies a Deer
specific position in the
food chain or web
(trophic level). Shrub
Trophic levels
Energy Flow
Producers: Make their own food
Primary Consumers: Mostly herbivores
Secondary Consumers: Eat primary consumers. Can be
omnivores or carnivores.
Tertiary Consumers: Eats primary and secondary consumers
Apex Predators: Have no predators other than humans
Constructing food webs
Higher level consumers at the top
Consumer C
Consumer A Consumer B
Producer A Producer B Producer C
Start from the bottom with producers
Example Questions
1. Name a producer
2. Name a herbivore
3. How many secondary
consumers are there?
4.Are there any tertiary
consumers
Changes in the food web
Nearly every species of animals is dependent on number
of other species for survival.
Currently human activity is damaging the natural habitats
of many animals.
This will not affect the animals in the area, but it could
have far-reaching effects on the rest of the species in
the food web.
If the population of a species declines dramatically how
might this affect the other species that depend upon it?
Changes in the food web
The organisms in a food
web are highly dependent
on each other.
Even a small change in the
number of producers or
consumers can have
dramatic effects on the
rest of the food chain
Changes in the food web
What might
happen if there
were no
producers?
Changes in the food web
The removal of the
producers would
cause the collapse
of the entire food
web
Changes in the food web
Predict what would
happen if primary
consumers were
removed from the
food web