Week 5
Who's eating who?
Embedded Files
learning intentions
learning intentions
recall prior learning of food chains and delve into the complexity of ecosystems by examining food webs and the interconnected relationships among species.
understand the concept of trophic levels
explore wetlands as an ecosystem
success criteria
success criteria
I can identify and explain the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in ecological food chains and webs.
I can explain the movement of energy through food webs and up trophic levels.
I can identify the role of macroinvertebrates in an wetlands food web, and anticipate some disruptions to the food web and consequences that would have on waterbirds.
Tasks
Tasks
Knowledge & understanding
🍐 Food Chains & Webs
Investigation Skills
Trophic Levels
Literacy & research
Identify the trophic levels in a wetland food web
Knowledge and understanding
Ecosystems & Habitats - Food chains and Food webs
Ecosystems & Habitats - Food chains and Food webs
In an ecosystem, organisms rely on each other for survival. Food chains illustrate the energy flow between organisms, demonstrating their interdependence. These chains reveal the intricate feeding relationships within ecosystems. Expanding on this concept, food webs provide a comprehensive view of how all the individual food chains interact, showcasing the interconnectedness of species in a dynamic and balanced ecological network.
Here is an example of an ecosystem that might exist around an oak tree.
Here is an example of an ecosystem that might exist around an oak tree.
This food chain shows
a leaf
eaten by a worm
which is then eaten by a bird.
leaf → worm → bird
The arrow shows the movement of energy in the food chain.
The initial source of energy for all food chains is the sun.
Now have a go at this game!
(Turn off your sound please!)
Literacy & research
A simple wetland food web is a good way to show interdependence in action:
A simple wetland food web is a good way to show interdependence in action:
Overall conceptual model of the food-web for the Murray Estuary and Coorong lagoons (Giatas and Ye 2016). Trophic levels 1, 2, 3 and 4+ represent primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers and higher-level consumers, respectively. Taxa that occupy intermediate trophic levels (e.g. omnivorous species between level 2 and 3) are situated in zones of overlapping trophic levels. Solid trophic links represent Coorong-based literature, while dotted links are based on literature outside of the Coorong. Biotic groupings are (1) phytoplankton, (2) macrophytes, macroalgae and benthic migroalgae, (3) detritus, (4) Ficopomatus enigmaticus, (5) zooplankton, (6) benthic invertebrates e.g. amphipods, polychaetes, insect larvae, shrimp, small crabs, bivalves and gastropods, (7) Paragrapsus gaimardii, (8) Australian smelt, (9) sandy sprat, (10) river garfish, (11) bony herring, (12) smallmouthed hardyhead, (13) gobies, (14) greenback flounder, (15) congolli, 16) carp, (17) Australian herring, (18) flathead gudgeon, (19) yelloweye mullet, (20) black bream, (21) Australian salmon, (22) mulloway, 23) herbivorous waterbirds, (24) shorebirds, (25) piscivorous birds and (26) long-nosed fur seal. Refer to Giatas and Ye (2016) for model guidelines.
Reference:
Fish monitoring synthesis: Understanding responses to drought and high flows in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Overall-conceptual-model-of-the-food-web-for-the-Murray-Estuary-and-Coorong-lagoons_fig3_307633754 [accessed 25 Feb, 2024]
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