Energy moving through ecosystems
What percent of energy moves up each trophic level in a food web?
10%
How do natural disasters, like wildfires or floods, impact food webs?
By destroying habitats, reducing populations of prey or predators, and altering the availability of resources.
How would a drought affect the producers in a food web?
It would cause producers to grow less or die. This decreases food and oxygen for herbivores and other organisms, disrupting the entire food web.
What is a watershed?
An area of land where all the water drains into a common body of water, like a river, lake, or ocean.
What is found at the very bottom of an energy pyramid in an ecosystem, providing the main source of energy for all other organisms?
Producers
How would a decrease in herbivores affect the entire food web?
It would reduce food for predators, causing their populations to decline. Also plant populations might overpopulate, leading to imbalances in the ecosystem.
What happens to a food web when humans overhunt or overfish a species
The population of fish-eating predators will decrease.
What is secondary succession?
It happens in areas where an ecosystem existed before, like after a wildfire.
What role does decomposers have in ecosystems?
Breaking down dead organisms and waste materials
What could happen if an invasive species is introduced into a food web?
Outcompeting native species for resources, preying on native organisms, or spreading diseases.
How does a wildfire impact producers and consumers in an ecosystem?
Wildfires destroy plants (producers), reducing food sources for herbivores. With fewer herbivores, predators may also struggle to find food, causing a ripple effect through the food web.
What are the two main types of ecological succession?
Primary succession and secondary succession.
Why do top predators have less available energy than herbivores?
Because 90% of energy is lost at each level of the food chain.
Why is biodiversity important for a stable and healthy food web?
It helps maintain balance, and the flow of energy through the ecosystem.
How does pollution, such as plastic waste or oil spills, affect aquatic food webs?
Animals will get sick and die from toxins affecting the biodiversity in the food web.
What is primary succession?
It happens in areas with no soil, like after a volcanic eruption.
List the levels if the energy pyramid starting at the bottom
Producer- Primary consumer- Secondary consumer- Tertiary consumer- Apex predator
If an ecosystem’s producers were reduced by half, how would that affect the consumers?
If producers decrease, there would be less food available for herbivores, which would cause a decline in herbivore populations. This would then affect the populations of carnivores, as they rely on herbivores for food. Less energy would flow through the food web, and a decrease in biodiversity.
What could happen to a food web if a top predator goes extinct?
Prey populations could grow uncontrollably, leading to overconsumption of plants or smaller animals. This imbalance can disrupt the entire food web and harm the ecosystem.
How does pollution affect a watershed?
Pollution can contaminate water, harm wildlife, and disrupt ecosystems