Pteropods Very Small and Very Important Biology Diagrams The ocean food web is one of nature's most incredible systems, connecting every living organism in a delicate balance that sustains life on Earth. ๐ From ti Food webs describe who eats whom in an ecological community.Made of interconnected food chains, food webs help us understand how changes to ecosystems โ say, removing a top predator or adding nutrients โ affect many different species, both directly and indirectly.. Phytoplankton and algae form the bases of aquatic food webs. They are eaten by primary consumers like zooplankton, small fish Low quantities of certain nutrients can limit the food energy available in the web. Another factor shaping food webs is the amount of biomass in each trophic level. For example, a food web with many predators may have little prey biomass than one with fewer predators, because the predators eat more of the prey.
When top predator species are depleted, their numbers are often slow to rebound, and their loss can send shock waves through the entire food web. Alternative Food Chains The primary marine food web, which is based on plant productivity, includes many of the sea's speciesโbut not all of them. There are other deep-ocean ecosystems that are
Food Webs of the Ocean Twilight Zone Biology Diagrams
In the open ocean, pelagic food webs rely on planktonic production as the primary energy source, supporting a network of consumers from microscopic zooplankton to large migratory predators. The mobility of pelagic species plays a defining role, with many organisms adapting to exploit transient food resources.
Ocean ecosystem food chains are perhaps the most primitive and curious levels of food webs. With oceans covering over 70 % of the Earth's surface, owing to that large expanse, they are home to over 230,000 documented marine species. The chain starts with primary producers, such as Phytoplankton, and moves up to apex predators like sharks and orcas.
Understanding the Food Chain in Ocean Ecosystems Biology Diagrams
There are many predators at the top of the ocean twilight zone food webs. Some commercially important species like swordfish and tuna dive from the surface down into the twilight zone to feed, as do animals like northern elephant seals, sperm whales, and even king penguins. The majority of the predators in the twilight zone spend their entire
