4.5b Food Webs

Key points:
1. The food web allows people to provide a much better description of an ecosystem. The eco system is composed of organisms within a community interacting, and in this case that interaction is feeding.
2. The food web shows organisms feeding at different trophic levels
3. Feeding at different trophic levels has consequences, organisms can have multiple predators, or organisms feeding on multiple prey. This results in the linking of food chains.
4. In this case, the producer is grass. The primary consumers are rabbits, beetle, slugs, mice. The woodlice would also be considered a primary consumer. The secondary consumers would be the small bird, badger.
5. The grass is eating by the rabbit, the hawk eats the rabbit, making it a secondary consumer. However, if the hawk feeds on the small birds as well its acting in the tertiary consumer.
6. The slug is the prey to birds and hedgehogs.
7. The fox is feeding on mice, rabbits and shrews, making links in the food chains.