DOCSLIB.ORG

Food Chain Tag Who’S Hungry? Let’S Become Bacteria, Minnows, Perch, Northern Pike, and Anglers and Join a Food Chain in Action!

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Food Chain Tag Who’S Hungry? Let’S Become Bacteria, Minnows, Perch, Northern Pike, and Anglers and Join a Food Chain in Action! Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 Food Chain Tag Who’s hungry? Let’s become bacteria, minnows, perch, northern pike, and anglers and join a food chain in action! Decomposers/ Bacteria Angler Phytoplankton Predator Fish Zooplankton Prey Fish Invertebrates ©MN DNR © 2010 Minnesota DNR • MinnAqua • USFWS Sport Fish Restoration 1:2-B Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 • Food Chain Tag Table of Contents Food Chain Tag ....................................................................1:2-A Minnesota Academic Standards ............................................... 1:2-C Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence ..........................1:2-D Instructor’s Background Information ....................................1:2-1-8 Summary ................................................................................... 1:2-1 Student Objectives .................................................................... 1:2-1 Materials .................................................................................... 1:2-2 Procedure ................................................................................... 1:2-8 Activity ...................................................................................... 1:2-8 Assessment Options ................................................................ 1:2-13 Checklist .............................................................................. 1:2-14 Scoring Rubric ..................................................................... 1:2-15 Extensions ............................................................................... 1:2-16 K-2 Option .............................................................................. 1:2-18 Aquatic Food Chain Sheet ...................................................... 1:2-19 Aquatic Food Chain Cards ..................................................... 1:2-20 Food Chain Identification Tags ............................................... 1:2-24 © 2010 Minnesota DNR • MinnAqua • USFWS Sport Fish Restoration Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 • Food Chain Tag 1:2-C Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 Food Chain Tag Minnesota Academic Standards Science Lesson introduces this Benchmark. Grade 3 Lesson partially addresses this Benchmark. III. Earth and Space Science Lesson fully addresses this Benchmark. C. The Universe: Benchmark 3—The student will observe that the Language Arts sun supplies heat and light to the Earth. IV. Life Science Grade 3 C. Interdependence of Life: I. Reading and Literature Benchmark 2—The student will know that changes B. Vocabulary Expansion: in a habitat can be beneficial or harmful to an Benchmark 1—The student will acquire, understand organism. and use new vocabulary through explicit instruction and independent reading. Grade 5 Benchmark 3—The student will use context IV. Life Science and word structure to determine the meaning of F. Flow of Matter and Energy unfamiliar words. Benchmark 1—The student will recognize that III. Speaking, Listening, and Viewing organisms need energy to stay alive and grow, and A. Speaking and Listening: that this energy originates from the sun. Benchmark 1—The student will participate in Benchmark 2—The student will use food webs and follow agreed-upon rules for conversation and to describe the relationships among producers, formal discussions in large and small groups. consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem in Benchmark 2—The student will demonstrate active Minnesota. listening and comprehension. Benchmark 3—The student will recognize that Benchmark 3—The student will follow multi-step organisms are growing, dying and decaying, and that oral directions. their matter is recycled. Grades 4 and 5 I. Reading and Literature B. Vocabulary Expansion: Benchmark 1—The student will acquire, understand and use new vocabulary through explicit instruction and independent reading. III. Speaking, Listening, and Viewing A. Speaking and Listening: Benchmark 1—The student will participate and follow agreed—upon rules for conversation and formal discussions in large and small groups. Benchmark 2—The student will demonstrate active listening and comprehension. © 2010 Minnesota DNR • MinnAqua • USFWS Sport Fish Restoration 1:2-D Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 • Food Chain Tag Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence Benchmarks • Social and natural systems are made of parts. (PreK-2) • Social and natural systems may not continue to function if some of their parts are missing. (PreK-2) • When the parts of social and natural systems are put together, they can do things they couldn’t do by themselves. (PreK-2) • In social and natural systems that consist of many parts, the parts usually influence one another. (3-5) • Social and natural systems may not function as well if parts are missing, damaged, mismatched or misconnected. (3-5) For the full Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence, see: www.seek.state.mn.us/eemn_c.cfm © 2010 Minnesota DNR • MinnAqua • USFWS Sport Fish Restoration Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 • Food Chain Tag 1:2-1 Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 Summary In this active role-playing lesson, Food Chain Tag students discover how energy flows and is transferred between Grade Level: 3-5 the interdependent organisms Activity Duration: 30 minutes of an ecosystem by assuming Group Size: 15-40 various roles (minnows, perch, Subject Areas: Language Arts, Physical Education, Science northern pike, bacteria, and Academic Skills: analysis, application, gathering, interpretation, anglers) in an aquatic food chain. kinesthetic concept development, large group skills Each species feeds on plankton— Setting: large indoor or outdoor open area or on one another—to obtain the Vocabulary: angler, balance, biomass, carrying capacity, consumer, food that provides the needed decomposer, ecosystem, emigrate, food chain, food web, nutrient cycle, energy for survival in the lake. phytoplankton, plankton, predator, prey, primary consumer, producer, Decomposers break down dead secondary consumer, zooplankton plants and animals, recycling Internet Search Words: decomposition, food chain, food web, nutrients. In successive rounds of plankton, predator-prey relationship Food Chain Tag, new species are introduced and population ratios Instructor’s Background Information altered in an effort to balance the simulated ecosystem. All things on the planet—both living and nonliving—interact. An ecosystem is defined as the set of elements, living and nonliving, that Student Objectives interact, over time, within a defined locale. A food chain demonstrates one way in which ecosystem elements interact in a systematic manner. The students will: 1 Illustrate that energy is Food Chains transferred through an aquatic In an ecosystem, numerous interactions between organisms result in a food chain by producers, flow of energy and cycling of matter. Food chains, the nitrogen cycle, consumers, and decomposers. and the carbon cycle are examples of these interactions. A food chain 2 Illustrate how decomposers is the sequence of steps through which the process of energy transfer recycle nutrients from dead occurs in an ecosystem. All organisms need a continuous supply of plants and animals. energy. Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction—through 3 Examine predator-prey food chains. relationships by assuming the roles of predators and prey in Food chains illustrate how energy flows through a sequence of a lake ecosystem. organisms, and how nutrients are transferred from one organism to 4 Define carrying capacity. another. Food chains usually consist of producers, consumers, and 5 Determine the necessary decomposers. If a food chain has more than one consumer level, its number of predators and consumers are defined as primary, secondary, or tertiary consumers. prey to achieve balance in a Primary consumers eat plants, secondary consumers eat primary simulated lake ecosystem. consumers, and tertiary consumers eat secondary and primary 6 Explain how organisms in consumers. a food chain depend on one another for survival. © 2010 Minnesota DNR • MinnAqua • USFWS Sport Fish Restoration 1:2-2 Chapter 1 • Lesson 2 • Food Chain Tag Materials • Aquatic Food Chain Sheet Decomposers/ • Aquatic Food Chain Cards Bacteria • Scissors • Glue • Angler Construction paper or Phytoplankton card stock • Clear contact paper or laminating material • Food Chain Identification Tags • Clothespins or other clips, Predator Fish string, or yarn to thread Zooplankton through identification tags so they can be worn necklace- style • Paper plates, one per student Prey Fish (optional) Invertebrates • Markers (optional) • 500 poker chips (or other tokens) to simulate plankton • Plastic cups or plastic sandwich bags, one per ©MN DNR student, to simulate stomachs A food chain illustrates the movement of energy in an ecosystem. • Hula-hoops, two or more, to simulate cover • The sun is the ultimate source of energy for all food chains. Through Several laminated illustrations the process of photosynthesis, plants use light energy from the sun to of lily pads • make food energy. Energy flows, or is transferred through the system as Masking tape, for creating one organism consumes another. boundaries that simulate cover • Food Webs Rope, 50-100 feet long, or The concept of a food chain is an abstraction or generalization. several field cones, to define Ecosystems are more complicated than a single food chain would lake boundary • indicate. Most aquatic ecosystems contain many more species than Whistle or other noisemaker those in a single food chain, and all of these species interact and are interdependent. Like people, most aquatic organisms consume
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Backyard Food
    Suggested Grades: 2nd - 5th BACKYARD FOOD WEB Wildlife Champions at Home Science Experiment 2-LS4-1: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. What is a food web? All living things on earth are either producers, consumers or decomposers. Producers are organisms that create their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is when a living thing uses sunlight, water and nutrients from the soil to create its food. Most plants are producers. Consumers get their energy by eating other living things. Consumers can be either herbivores (eat only plants – like deer), carnivores (eat only meat – like wolves) or omnivores (eat both plants and meat - like humans!) Decomposers are organisms that get their energy by eating dead plants or animals. After a living thing dies, decomposers will break down the body and turn it into nutritious soil for plants to use. Mushrooms, worms and bacteria are all examples of decomposers. A food web is a picture that shows how energy (food) passes through an ecosystem. The easiest way to build a food web is by starting with the producers. Every ecosystem has plants that make their own food through photosynthesis. These plants are eaten by herbivorous consumers. These herbivores are then hunted by carnivorous consumers. Eventually, these carnivores die of illness or old age and become food for decomposers. As decomposers break down the carnivore’s body, they create delicious nutrients in the soil which plants will use to live and grow! When drawing a food web, it is important to show the flow of energy (food) using arrows.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Interactions Between the Green and Brown Food Webs on Ecosystem Functioning Kejun Zou
    Effects of interactions between the green and brown food webs on ecosystem functioning Kejun Zou To cite this version: Kejun Zou. Effects of interactions between the green and brown food webs on ecosystem functioning. Ecosystems. Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, 2016. English. NNT : 2016PA066266. tel-01445570 HAL Id: tel-01445570 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01445570 Submitted on 1 Jun 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Université Pierre et Marie Curie Ecole doctorale : 227 Science de la Nature et de l’Homme Laboratoire : Institut d’Ecologie et des Sciences de l’Environnement de Paris Effects of interactions between the green and brown food webs on ecosystem functioning Effets des interactions entre les réseaux vert et brun sur le fonctionnement des ecosystèmes Par Kejun ZOU Thèse de doctorat d’Ecologie Dirigée par Dr. Sébastien BAROT et Dr. Elisa THEBAULT Présentée et soutenue publiquement le 26 septembre 2016 Devant un jury composé de : M. Sebastian Diehl Rapporteur M. José Montoya Rapporteur Mme. Emmanuelle Porcher Examinatrice M. Eric Edeline Examinateur M. Simon Bousocq Examinateur M. Sébastien Barot Directeur de thèse Mme. Elisa Thébault Directrice de thèse 2 Acknowledgements At the end of my thesis I would like to thank all those people who made this thesis possible and an unforgettable experience for me.
    [Show full text]
  • Trophic Levels
    Trophic Levels Douglas Wilkin, Ph.D. Jean Brainard, Ph.D. Say Thanks to the Authors Click http://www.ck12.org/saythanks (No sign in required) AUTHORS Douglas Wilkin, Ph.D. To access a customizable version of this book, as well as other Jean Brainard, Ph.D. interactive content, visit www.ck12.org CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the FlexBook®, CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high-quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning, powered through the FlexBook Platform®. Copyright © 2015 CK-12 Foundation, www.ck12.org The names “CK-12” and “CK12” and associated logos and the terms “FlexBook®” and “FlexBook Platform®” (collectively “CK-12 Marks”) are trademarks and service marks of CK-12 Foundation and are protected by federal, state, and international laws. Any form of reproduction of this book in any format or medium, in whole or in sections must include the referral attribution link http://www.ck12.org/saythanks (placed in a visible location) in addition to the following terms. Except as otherwise noted, all CK-12 Content (including CK-12 Curriculum Material) is made available to Users in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/3.0/), as amended and updated by Creative Com- mons from time to time (the “CC License”), which is incorporated herein by this reference.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Principles and Function of Natural Ecosystems by Professor Michel RICARD
    Intensive Programme on Education for sustainable development in Protected Areas Amfissa, Greece, July 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ecological principles and function of natural ecosystems By Professor Michel RICARD Summary 1. Hierarchy of living world 2. What is Ecology 3. The Biosphere - Lithosphere - Hydrosphere - Atmosphere 4. What is an ecosystem - Ecozone - Biome - Ecosystem - Ecological community - Habitat/biotope - Ecotone - Niche 5. Biological classification 6. Ecosystem processes - Radiation: heat, temperature and light - Primary production - Secondary production - Food web and trophic levels - Trophic cascade and ecology flow 7. Population ecology and population dynamics 8. Disturbance and resilience - Human impacts on resilience 9. Nutrient cycle, decomposition and mineralization - Nutrient cycle - Decomposition 10. Ecological amplitude 11. Ecology, environmental influences, biological interactions 12. Biodiversity 13. Environmental degradation - Water resources degradation - Climate change - Nutrient pollution - Eutrophication - Other examples of environmental degradation M. Ricard: Summer courses, Amfissa July 2014 1 1. Hierarchy of living world The larger objective of ecology is to understand the nature of environmental influences on individual organisms, populations, communities and ultimately at the level of the biosphere. If ecologists can achieve an understanding of these relationships, they will be well placed to contribute to the development of systems by which humans
    [Show full text]
  • Food Chains in Woodland Habitats. All Animals Need to Eat Food to Survive
    Science Lesson Living Things and their Habitats- Food chains in woodland habitats. Key Learning • A food chain shows the links between different living things and where they get their energy from. • Living things can be classified as producers or consumers according to their place in the food chain. • A predator is an animal that feeds on other animals (its prey). • Animals can be described as carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. All animals need to eat food to survive. • Talk about what you already know about the kind of food different animals eat. • What is the name of an animal that only eats plants? • What is the name of an animal that only eats other animals? • What is the name of an animal that eats both plants and other animals? Watch this clip about birds. What kind of food do they eat? https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/z9nhfg8 Animals can be described as herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. Birds like robins, blue tits and house sparrows have a very varied diet! worms spiders slugs flies mealworms berries Robins, blue tits and house sparrows are omnivores because they eat plants and other animals. Describing a food chain. Watch this clip describing a food chain. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zjshfg8 Caterpillar cat magpie Think about these questions as you watch • Where does a food chain start? • Which animals are herbivores? • Which animals are carnivores? A food chain starts with energy from the Sun because plants need the Sun’s light energy to make their own food in their leaves. Plants are eaten by animals.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecology (Pyramids, Biomagnification, & Succession
    ENERGY PYRAMIDS & Freshmen Biology FOOD CHAINS/FOOD WEBS May 4 – May 8 Lecture ENERGY FLOW •Energy → powers life’s processes •Energy = ATP! •Flow of energy determines the system’s ability to sustain life FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS • Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction • Sun → autotrophs (producers) → heterotrophs (consumers) FOOD CHAIN VS. FOOD WEB FOOD CHAINS • Energy stored by producers → passed through an ecosystem by a food chain • Food chain = series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten FOOD WEBS •Feeding relationships are more complex than can be shown in a food chain •Food Web = network of complex interactions •Food webs link all the food chains in an ecosystem together ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS • Used to show the relationships in Ecosystems • There are different types: • Energy Pyramid • Biomass Pyramid • Pyramid of numbers ENERGY PYRAMID • Only part of the energy that is stored in one trophic level can be passed on to the next level • Much of the energy that is consumed is used for the basic functions of life (breathing, moving, reproducing) • Only 10% is used to produce more biomass (10 % moves on) • This is what can be obtained from the next trophic level • All of the other energy is lost 10% RULE • Only 10% of energy (from organisms) at one trophic level → the next level • EX: only 10% of energy/calories from grasses is available to cows • WHY? • Energy used for bodily processes (growth/development and repair) • Energy given off as heat • Energy used for daily functioning/movement • Only 10% of energy you take in should be going to your actual biomass/weight which another organism could eat BIOMASS PYRAMID • Total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level = biomass • Represents the amount of potential food available for each trophic level in an ecosystem PYRAMID OF NUMBERS •Based on the number of individuals at each trophic level.
    [Show full text]
  • Plants Are Producers! Draw the Different Producers Below
    Name: ______________________________ The Unique Producer Every food chain begins with a producer. Plants are producers. They make their own food, which creates energy for them to grow, reproduce and survive. Being able to make their own food makes them unique; they are the only living things on Earth that can make their own source of food energy. Of course, they require sun, water and air to thrive. Given these three essential ingredients, you will have a healthy plant to begin the food chain. All plants are producers! Draw the different producers below. Apple Tree Rose Bushes Watermelon Grasses Plant Blueberry Flower Fern Daisy Bush List the three essential needs that every producer must have in order to live. © 2009 by Heather Motley Name: ______________________________ Producers can make their own food and energy, but consumers are different. Living things that have to hunt, gather and eat their food are called consumers. Consumers have to eat to gain energy or they will die. There are four types of consumers: omnivores, carnivores, herbivores and decomposers. Herbivores are living things that only eat plants to get the food and energy they need. Animals like whales, elephants, cows, pigs, rabbits, and horses are herbivores. Carnivores are living things that only eat meat. Animals like owls, tigers, sharks and cougars are carnivores. You would not catch a plant in these animals’ mouths. Then, we have the omnivores. Omnivores will eat both plants and animals to get energy. Whichever food source is abundant or available is what they will eat. Animals like the brown bear, dogs, turtles, raccoons and even some people are omnivores.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 3. Nutrient Cycling by Fungi in Wet Tropical Forests
    Chapter 3 Nutrient cycling by fungi in wet tropical forests D. Jean Lodge U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Center for Forest Mycology Reseach, PO Box B, Palmer, Pueto Rico 00721, U.S.A. Introduction Fungi are primarily responsible for the recycling of mineral nutrients through decomposition of organic matter (Swift, Heal & Anderson, 1979) and the uptake and transfer of these nutrients into plants via mycorrizal fungi (Janos, 1983). In addition, fungi and other soil microorganisms serve alternately as sources and sinks of labile nutrients that are necessary for plant growth (Marumoto, Anderson & Domsch 1983 Yang & Insam 1991). Thus, fungal and microbial biomass can control significant fractions of the labile nutrient pools in some humid and wet tropical forests (Marumoto et al., 1982; Lodge, 1985; Yang & Insam, 1991), and regulate the availability of nutrients that may limit plant growth (Jordan 1985; Hilton, 1987; Singh et al., 1989 Lee, Han & Jordan 1990 Behera Pati & Basu, 1991; Yang & Insam, 1991). The term biomass normally refers only to living organisms, but it is used more broadly in this chapter to refer to dead as well as living microorganisms as both contain nutrients. Although humid tropical forests often have large stature and an abundance of vegetation, their growth and productivity is frequently limited by the availability of mineral nutrients. A diversity of soils occurs in the wet tropics so it is difficult to generalise about nutrient limitation. However, the availability of phosphorus to higher plants is generally limited because phosphorus combines with aluminium and iron oxides in the highly weathered soils to form insoluble complexes (Sanchez 1976).
    [Show full text]
  • The Soil Food Web
    THE SOIL FOOD WEB HEALTHY SOIL HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT The Soil Food Web Alan Sundermeier Extension Educator and Program Leader, Wood County Extension, The Ohio State University. Vinayak Shedekar Postdoctural Researcher, The Ohio State University. A healthy soil depends on the interaction of many organisms that make up the soil food web. These organisms live all or part of their life cycle in the soil and are respon- sible for converting energy as one organism consumes another. Source: Soil Biology Primer The phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) test can be used to measure the activity of the soil food web. The following chart shows that mi-crobial activity peaks in early summer when soil is warm and moisture is adequate. Soil sampling for detecting soil microbes should follow this timetable to better capture soil microbe activity. The soil food web begins with the ener- gy from the sun, which triggers photo- synthesis in plants. Photosynthesis re- sults in plants using the sun’s energy to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This process creates the carbon and organic compounds contained in plant material. This is the first trophic level. Then begins building of soil organic matter, which contains both long-last- ing humus, and active organic matter. Active organic matter contains readily available energy, which can be used by simple soil organisms in the second trophic level of the soil food web. Source: Soil Biology Primer SOILHEALTH.OSU.EDU THE SOIL FOOD WEB - PAGE 2 The second trophic level contains simple soil organisms, which Agriculture can enhance the soil food web to create more decompose plant material.
    [Show full text]
  • Detrital Food Chain As a Possible Mechanism to Support the Trophic Structure of the Planktonic Community in the Photic Zone of a Tropical Reservoir
    Limnetica, 39(1): 511-524 (2020). DOI: 10.23818/limn.39.33 © Asociación Ibérica de Limnología, Madrid. Spain. ISSN: 0213-8409 Detrital food chain as a possible mechanism to support the trophic structure of the planktonic community in the photic zone of a tropical reservoir Edison Andrés Parra-García1,*, Nicole Rivera-Parra2, Antonio Picazo3 and Antonio Camacho3 1 Grupo de Investigación en Limnología Básica y Experimental y Biología y Taxonomía Marina, Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia. 050010 Medellín, Colombia. 2 Grupo de Fundamentos y Enseñanza de la Física y los Sistemas Dinámicos, Instituto de Física, Universidad de Antioquia. 050010 Medellín, Colombia. 3 Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva. Universidad de Valencia. E–46980 Paterna, Valencia. España. * Corresponding author: [email protected] Received: 31/10/18 Accepted: 10/10/19 ABSTRACT Detrital food chain as a possible mechanism to support the trophic structure of the planktonic community in the photic zone of a tropical reservoir In the photic zone of aquatic ecosystems, where different communities coexist showing different strategies to access one or different resources, the biomass spectra can describe the food transfers and their efficiencies. The purpose of this work is to describe the biomass spectrum and the transfer efficiency, from the primary producers to the top predators of the trophic network, in the photic zone of the Riogrande II reservoir. Data used in the model of the biomass spectrum were taken from several studies carried out between 2010 and 2013 in the reservoir. The analysis of the slope of a biomass spectrum, of the transfer efficiencies, and the omnivory indexes, suggest that most primary production in the photic zone of the Riogrande II reservoir is not directly used by primary consumers, and it appears that detritic mass flows are an indirect way of channeling this production towards zooplankton.
    [Show full text]
  • The Importance of Soil Food Web for Healthy Environment and Sustainable Development
    International Journal of Applied Research 2015; 1(3): 15-20 ISSN Print: 2394-7500 ISSN Online: 2394-5869 Impact Factor: 3.4 The importance of soil food web for healthy IJAR 2015; 1(3): 15-20 www.allresearchjournal.com environment and sustainable development Received: 18-01-2015 Accepted: 08-02-2015 Rajeev Ranjan, M. Divya and M. Bavitha Rajeev Ranjan Abstract PG Research Scholar, Soil food web is a natural network of consumer resource interactions among different functional Dept. of Aquaculture, groups of soil organisms which are occur in the soil ecosystem. Soil is a complex, unconsolidated Fisheries College & Research mixture of inorganic, organic, and living material that is found on the immediate surface of the earth Institute, TNFU, that supports many important functions for plants, animals, and humans. The soil food web is very Thoothukudi-8, dynamic, complex and interchanging depending on its ecosystem. Nutrients in soil in their most basic Tamil Nadu, India. form come from fully decomposed organic matter which we call compost. Decomposition of organic matter is largely a biological process that occurs naturally. The organisms found in the soil food web M. Divya PG Research Scholar, carry out a large amount of microbial processes such as decomposition, mineralization, Dept. of Aquatic environment immobilization, respiration, and fixation along with many others. Without soil food web, plants management, would not obtain the nutrients which are necessary for growth. Nutrient exchanges between organic Fisheries College & Research matter, water and soil are essential to soil fertility and need to be maintained for sustainable Institute, TNFU, Thoothukudi- production. A diverse and complete soil food web where soils are well structured and fertile through 8, T.N.
    [Show full text]
  • Urban Food Webs: Predators, Prey, and the People Who Feed Them
    Urban Food Webs: Predators, Prey, and the People Who Feed Them A prevailing image of the city is of the steel and ships and energy flows through natural habitats, they concrete downtown skyline. The more common ex‑ have not been applied to urban ecosystems until re‑ perience of urban residents, however, is a place of cently (Faeth et al. 2005). irrigated and fertilized green spaces, such as yards, gardens, and parks, surrounding homes and business‑ At a symposium presented at the 2006 Ecological es where people commonly feed birds, squirrels, and Society of America meeting, 10 speakers assembled other wildlife. Within these highly human-modified to present and discuss “The Urban Food Web: How environments, researchers are becoming increasingly Humans Alter the State and Interactions of Trophic curious about how fundamental ecological phenom‑ Dynamics,” in a symposium organized by Paige War‑ ena play out, such as the feeding relationships among ren, Chris Tripler, Chris Lepczyk, and Jason Walker. species. While food webs have long provided a tool A key feature of urban environments, as described in for organizing information about feeding relation‑ the symposium, is that human influence may be en‑ Fig. 1. A generalized model of trophic dynamics in urban vs. non-urban terrestrial systems (modified from Faeth et al. 2005). Humans alter both systems, but in urban environments, human influences are more profound and include (a) enhancement of basal resources like water and fertilizer, and (b) direct control of plant species diversity and primary productivity, leading to strong bottom-up controls. Humans also (c) directly subsidize resources for herbivores and predators either through intentional feeding or unintended consequences of other activities (e.g., garbage, landscape plantings), leading to enhanced top-down control for some taxa and reduced top-down controls on others (see Fig.
    [Show full text]