Biodiversity and Food Webs
As a group, review the following food web and answer the questions in the accompanying packet.
1. How many different species are a part of this ecosystem (assuming the food web
includes all of them)?______________________________________________________
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2. Which of the organisms in the food web eat the plantain?________________________
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3. Which of the organisms in the food web eat the ladybug?_________________________
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4. What does the snake eat?___________________________________________________
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5. What does the fox eat?_____________________________________________________
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6. Which of the organisms in the food web are producers?__________________________
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7. Which of the organisms in the food web are primary consumers?___________________
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8. Which of the organisms in the food web are secondary consumers?_________________
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9. Which of the organisms in the food web are tertiary consumers?___________________
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10. Which of the organisms in the food web have no predators?_______________________
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11. Which of the organisms in the food web are competitors with the mouse?____________
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12. Which of the organisms in the food web are competitors with the buzzard?___________
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13. Which of the organisms in the food web has no prey?____________________________
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14. If the population of berries suddenly decreased, how might it affect the rest of the food
web (include all organisms that would be affected, even indirectly)?_________________
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15. If the population of frogs suddenly decreased, how might if affect the rest of the food web
(include all organisms that would be affected, even indirectly)?___________________________
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16. Imagine that you and your group are a team of forest rangers working in the ecosystem
represented by this food web. Powerful aliens have arrived on Earth and although they are
generally kind to humans, they are forcing you to remove one species from the ecosystem so
they can study it (and yes, they must have all of them). With your team, decide which species
you should remove from the ecosystem that would negatively impact of the rest of the
organisms the LEAST amount. Identify and defend your choice in the space below. As you
defend your choice, be sure to explain exactly how the ecosystem would be affected by the
removal of this species. ___________________________________________________________
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17. You and your group are still a team of forest rangers working in the ecosystem represented by
this food web. Luckily you wake up and you realize that the alien scenario from question 16 was
all a bad dream. Your troubles aren’t over though. Hikers in your forest have accidentally
introduced an invasive species of moth to the forest ecosystem. These moths eat plantain, and
are poisonous to predators. How might the introduction of these moths affect the other species
in the ecosystem (include all species that might be affected, even indirectly)________________
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