If an organism is removed from a food chain or web all together, for example due to overhunting, then this can have a catastrophic effect on the other populations in the food web. Growing predator numbers will eventually reduce the food supply to the point where it can no longer sustain the predator population. If the prey population in an ecosystem grows, predator numbers will respond to the increased food supply by increasing as well. Prey species must be well adapted to escape predators for their species to continue.Predator species need to be adapted for efficient hunting if they are to catch enough food to survive. In this strategy predators are the hunters and prey are. There is a continuous struggle between predators and their prey: Simply put, predation (or carnivory) is a feeding strategy in which animals consume other animals. An omnivore is an organism that will consume both plant and animal material.A carnivore is an organism that only consumes animal material.A herbivore is an organism that only consumes plant material.Within food chains and webs there are organisms that will only consume particular types of food: Consumers get food from a biotic source by eating the biomass of producers or other consumers. For example plants carry out photosynthesis to make food using light energy from the sun. Producers make their own food using energy from an abiotic source. Ī food chain shows the linear flow of energy between organisms A food web shows the energy flow through interconnected food chains in an ecosystem Predator/prey relationships can be illustrated in a diagram called a food chain or food web. Prey is a term used to describe organisms that predators kill for food. A predator is an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals for food.
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