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Food webs are complex network of feeding interactions. Food webs may consist of food chains. In that sense, there are a lot of animals hunt for the same animal. Food webs can also be identified as numerous food chains combine together to form a single, but large feeding interaction.
biodiversity - the variety of life, the different plants, animals and microorganisms and the ecosystems they live in
carnivores - animals that eat only meat
consumers - animals that can't convert the Sun's energy into sugars and must eat to get the energy they need to survive
decomposers - organisms that feed on dead things e.g. bacteria
food chain - a diagram that shows who eats who in an ecosystem and how nutrients and energy are passed on
food web - several intertwined food chains, showing the extended relationships between different organisms
green wedges - non-urban areas around metropolitan areas
habitat - environment in which organisms live
herbivores - animals that eat only plants
omnivores - animals that ear both plants and animals
producers - plants and plant-like organisms found at the start of the food chains
urban sprawl - the spread of urban areas into rural areas
Food Chains (from: the DK FindOut! website)
This web page from DK find out! has some straight forward information about food chains, as well as other areas you are investigating...
Food Chains and Webs (from: BBC Bitesize website)
This web page is from the BBC Bitesize website. It provides information about several topics related to Food Chains and Food Webs. The information is a mix of text, images and short videos. There are also questions to help you check how well you've understood the content.
This web page from National Geographic's website curates links to a range of encyclopaedia entries with information on food chains, food webs and the various types of organisms involved in both of these.
On this web page from Khan Academy you will find information about "how food chains and food webs represent the flow of energy and matter [as well as] trophic levels and efficiency of energy transfer."
The Food Chain Game (from: Shepherd Software website)
How well do you understand Food Chains now? Have a go at this game and see if you can get them all right!
A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem. Each living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they move through the ecosystem. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.
Food chain and food web. [Photograph]. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Retrieved 7 Apr 2023, from: http://quest.eb.com/search/309_1155884/1/309_1155884/cite
Brown, M. (2021). Everything you need to ace biology in one big fat notebook. Workman Publishing
Decomposers and Scavengers by
Around the world, animals work with other living things to create unique and balanced ecosystems. Bees help plants make seeds. Birds scatter seeds so plants can grow. Gophers loosen the soil, letting water and nutrients easily reach roots. Cleaner fish keep other fish healthy by eating parasites. But today, some of these systems are at risk of disappearing. Team Earth investigates the amazing ways that animals help their environments and humans and shows what people can do to protect them. When living things die, it is important that they get broken down. Scavengers help break dead things into smaller pieces.
Decomposers can then turn those pieces into nutrients for the soil. Scavengers and Decomposers: Nature's Recyclers looks at how animals and other organisms make the world a better place by breaking down waste, as well as the threats they face and how people can protect them.
Wildlife Extinction Crisis by
The Earth is currently experiencing an extinction crisis due to the exploitation of the planet by humans. According to the IUCN Red List, more than 31,000 species are threatened with extinction – 27% of all assessed species. Are we in the midst of a global mass extinction event? Australia has one of the worst recent extinction records of any continent, with more than 100 species of vertebrates becoming extinct since the first people arrived over 50 thousand years ago; more than 300 animal and 1,000 plant species are now threatened with imminent extinction. Most of Australia’s wildlife is found nowhere else in the world, making its conservation even more important.
This book explores the state of the world’s wildlife and examines the factors which are threatening their survival in Australia and globally, including habitat destruction, overexploitation, wildlife trading and poaching, pollution, and the devastating impacts of climate change in the form of droughts and bushfires. What about wildlife conservation? How can humankind better protect the planet’s biodiversity – including wildlife and their habitats – to prevent more species from becoming extinct?
A focus on Coasts and Oceans by
Dozens of Australia's most vulnerable creatures The habitats where Australia's animals live, feed and breed Identifying characteristics that make a species vulnerable Australian and international classification systems Threats animals face and what is being done to save them What YOU can do to make a difference.
A focus on Antarctic Tundra: Ice and Snow Habitats by
Dozens of Australia's most vulnerable creatures The habitats where Australia's animals live, feed and breed Identifying characteristics that make a species vulnerable Australian and international classification systems Threats animals face and what is being done to save them What YOU can do to make a difference.
Rainforests by
Rainforests are lush, healthy forests. These amazing ecosystems are home to around half of all Earth's plants and animals. Find out about rainforests through the use of flowcharts.
Grasslands by
Grasslands are huge and important ecosystems. They cover around 40 per cent of all of the land in the world. Find out about grasslands through the use of flowcharts.
Mountains by
Mountains provide shelter for a wide variety of amazing plants and animals. The weather on a mountain varies from top to bottom. Find out about mountains through the use of flowcharts.
Deserts by
Deserts cover about one-fifth of Earth's entire land surface. They are some of the harshest and most challenging ecosystems on our planet. Find out about deserts through the use of flowcharts.
Oceans by
The ocean ecosystem is Earth's biggest ecosystem. The world's oceans cover more than three-quarters of our planet's surface. Find out about oceans through the use of flowcharts.
A wobbegong shark struggles to eat an octopus off the coast of Perth, Australia. Unike most sharks, wobbegong sharks are bottom-dwellers. In addition to crabs and lobsters, wobbegongs prey on octopus, which live in rocky reefs on the ocean floor.
A white-bellied sea eagle snatches an epaulette shark from the waters of Montgomery Reef, in the Kimberley region of western Australia. The white-bellied sea eagle is an apex predator, part of both marine and terrestrial food webs. Besides fish, sea eagles also hunt sea snakes and crabs. On land, they hunt mice, opossum, and other coastal birds, such as penguins.
A school of fish feed on a collection of plankton in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil. Plankton are tiny organisms that drift with ocean currents. Some types of plankton, called phytoplankton, are producers. They use the process of photosynthesis to create their own food. Other types of plankton, called zooplankton, are microscopic consumers. They eat other organisms. The organisms in this photo are zooplankton.
