Game: Food Web
Words you need to know
A food chain shows how each living thing gets energy through its food. Some animals eat plants and some
animals eat other animals. In a food chain, each link in the chain (or food source) becomes food for the next link
in the chain. The interconnecting food chains in a particular ecosystem are known as a food web.
Biodiversity (biological diversity) refers to the variety of all living things, including plants, animals, micro-organisms
found in an ecosystem and their inter-relationships.
Aim
To create a Tasmanian food web using the information on the animal picture and food cards provided.
To play
1. To begin, choose one animal picture card from the pack, and attach it or write the name of that animal in
the middle of a large piece of paper (or white board).
2. Find the food card related to that animal and read what it eats.
3. Write the name (or place the picture) of what it eats under the first card.
4. Draw an arrow from the food to the animal that eats it.
5. Choose another animal and do the same thing with the cards.
6. When you have made several food chains, look for and draw in any other links to create a food web.
Discovery questions
• What would happen if certain animals die out or their numbers decline?
• Describe an impact that humans might have on the food web in the area where you live?
• Name some threats to Tasmanian biodiversity.
• Fox sightings in Tasmania are increasing. If the fox population becomes established and increases even more
what implications (both short term and long term) will that have on the Tasmanian food web?
• What actions could be taken in your area to help to protect the biodiversity and reduce human impacts?
Further work
• Research the meaning of the terms producer, herbivore, carnivore and top order predator.
• Define threatened species and give some Tasmanian examples. You may like to use the web.
• Research the impact the European red fox has had on wildlife and agricultural practices on
mainland Australia. Depar tment of Primar y Industries, Parks, Water and Environment
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bush snail
button-grass
brown goshawk
bettong
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earthworm
eastern barred bandicoot
Tasmanian devil
black field cricket
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fungi
flower spider
ferral cat
echidna
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land hopper
lesser long-eared bat
brown tree frog
long-tailed mouse
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ptunarra brown butterfly
Tasmanian pademelon
Tasmanian native hen
longicorn beetle
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spotted-tailed quoll
metallic skink
silvereye
scrubtit
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common wombat
Tasmanian grasshopper
wallaby grass
swamp antechinus
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European red fox (introduced)
Food: typically eats everything under 5 kg including
insects, lizards, frogs, mammals and some birds.
The Tasmanian pademelon and bettong are now
extinct on the mainland due to the fox. 78% of
Tasmania’s vertebrate species are at risk including
eastern barred bandicoot, eastern quoll and
long‑tailed mice.
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black field cricket
Teleogryllus commodus
Food: grasses
The black field cricket is nocturnal and feeds at night.
To find a mate, it calls out at night by rubbing its wings
together. It lives in tunnels in pasture and grassland as
well as under rocks.
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European red fox (introduced)
Vulpes vulpes
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Tasmanian devil
Tasmanian native hen
Sarcophilus harrisii
Food: small birds, mammals and carrion
(dead animals).
Gallinula mortierii
Food: grass and other ground-cover plants.
The Tasmanian devil is the largest marsupial carnivore.
It is nocturnal so it feeds during the night. It lives in
forest, woodland and agricultural areas.
The native hen is a flightless bird found only in
Tasmania. It feeds during the day and lives in grassy
paddocks near swamps, lakes or rivers. Females lay
4-9 eggs in a nest made of grass or tussock.
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spotted-tailed quoll
common wombat
Dasyurus maculatus
Food: small birds, mammals, invertebrates and reptiles and
carrion (dead animals).
The spotted-tailed quoll is mainly nocturnal so it feeds
during the night. It is common in wet forest, coastal
heathland and agricultural areas.
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Vombatus ursinus
Food: native grasses, herbs and shrubs.
The common wombat is mostly nocturnal so it feeds
during the night. Its habitat is widespread from coastal
to alpine areas.
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brown goshawk
scrubtit
Accipiter fasciatus
Acanthornis magnus
Food: small mammals, reptiles and birds.
Food: insects.
The brown goshawk feeds during the day and flies
around forests, woodlands, farmland with trees and
urban parks. It spends most of its time in the forest
where it hunts by stealth.
The scrubtit feeds during the day and lives in the
dense undergrowth of wet forests, fern-gullies and
rainforests. It is secretive and hops up the trunks of
trees in search of food. Nests are often placed low
in shrubbery. It is endemic, that means only found
in Tasmania.
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echidna
Tasmanian pademelon
Tachyglossus aculeatus
Food: ants, termites and other small invertebrates.
Food: grasses, herbs and shrubs.
The echidna lays eggs and feeds its young with milk.
It feeds during the day but can be active in the night.
It lives throughout Tasmania but is most common in
drier areas.
The pademelon is nocturnal so it feeds during the
night. It is widespread throughout Tasmania but is
most common in the dense undergrowth of forests
near cleared land.
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Thylogale billardierii
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metallic skink
ptunarra brown butterfly
Niveoscincus metallicus
Oreixenica ptunarra
Food: insects and other small invertebrates.
Food: nectar
The metallic skink feeds during warmer days
because it needs heat to enable it to move. It is the
most widespread reptile in Tasmania and is found
everywhere from coastal to alpine areas.
The ptunarra brown butterfly feeds during the day
in the warmer months. It is rare and lives in the
grasslands and grassy woodlands of the Midlands,
Northwest and Central Plateau.
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flower spider
earthworm
Diaea rosae
(Oligochaeta)
Food: insects.
Food: decaying plant and animal matter.
The flower spider hides inside flowers and ambushes
small flies and other insects that come to feed on
the flower’s nectar and pollen. It lives in foliage and
flowers and feeds during the day.
The earthworm eats as it is tunnelling through the
soil, thus helping to keep the soil healthy. It lives all
over the world including in Tasmania’s soil.
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Tasmanian grasshopper
longicorn beetle
Tasmaniacris tasmaniensis
Food: grasses and herbs.
The Tasmanian grasshopper feeds during the day. It is
one of the most common grasshoppers in Tasmania.
It is found all over Tasmania from coastal areas to
alpine areas.
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Tragoceros spencei
Food: nectar. Their larvae bore into dead or
dying wood.
The longicorn beetle feeds during the day from spring
to autumn. They live in heathy and shrubby eucalyptus
forests and woodlands.
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land hoppers
feral cat
(Amphipoda)
Food: birds, small mammals, invertebrates and reptiles.
Land hoppers feed during the day and are found all
over Tasmania. Females carry their eggs and young in
a brood pouch. They are found all over Tasmania – on
beaches, under stones and under decaying vegetation.
Feral cats feed during the day as well as at night.
They eat small mammals like bandicoots and many
other small animals including birds. Feral cats are
found all over Tasmania and can survive almost
anywhere.
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Food: scavenges feeding on decaying plant and
animal matter.
Felis catus
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eastern barred bandicoot
bettong
Perameles gunnii
Bettongia gaimardi
Food: soil invertebrates including pasture pests like
cockchafer larvae and corby grubs.
Food: fungi, seeds, insects and gum from
acacia shrubs.
The eastern barred bandicoot is nocturnal so it
feeds during the night. It is most common in open
grasslands and pasture near scrub or woodland.
The bettong carries nest materials in its tail. It is
nocturnal so it feeds during the night. It is widespread
in eastern Tasmania but it is more common in dry
sclerophyll forest, woodland and open understory.
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silvereye
lesser long-eared bat
Zosterops lateralis
Nyctophilus geoffroyi
Food: insects.
Food: insects-mostly flying ones.
The silvereye feeds during the day and lives in a wide
range of places including forests, scrub, orchards and
gardens. They are often seen singularly, in pairs, small
groups or larger flocks. Most migrate to the mainland
in winter.
At night it flies close to the ground to catch its food.
It is widespread in all forest types. It roosts in trees
often with others of the same species. It enters torpor
during winter, but comes out on warmer nights
to feed.
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swamp antechinus
long-tailed mouse
Antechinus minimus
Food: insects and larvae, lizards, earthworms
and spiders.
The swamp antechinus is in the same family as the
Tasmanian devil and the quoll. It forages during the
day and during the night. It lives in wet buttongrass
sedgeland and is also found in coastal heathland.
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Pseudomys higginsi
Food: fungi, insects, spiders, seeds and fruits.
The long-tailed mouse is only found in Tasmania. It is
mainly nocturnal so it feeds during the night, but it
may be seen in the day. It is most common in the
wetter parts of western and eastern Tasmania.
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brown tree frog
bush snail
Caryodes dufresnii
Food: insects.
Food: fungi such as mushrooms and decaying leaves.
The brown tree frog is common in Tasmania. It feeds
both day and night, but only calls at night. It lives in
temporary and permanent water, damp places and
dense vegetation.
The bush snail is the most common native snail in
Tasmania. It is widespread throughout Tasmania in
dry forests.
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Litoria ewingi