Food Webs

ood~and Food Web I

\\!\ ~

\\~ -. ,

1) A food ohain is just part of a food web, starting at the bottom and following the arrows up.
2) Remember, the arrows show which way the food energv travels.
3) Don't mix up who eats who either! .
The arrow means "IS EATEN BY", so you follow the arrow to the one doing the eating.
4) From the woodland food web we could take this food ohain:

Terminologx.you need to know I

1) PRODUCER - all plants are produoers. They use the sun's energy to produce food energy.
2) HERBIVORE - animals which onlV eat plants, e.g. rabbits, caterpillars, aphids.
3) CONSUMER - all animals are oonsumers. All plants are not, because they are producers.
4) PRIMARY CONSUMER - animal which eats produoers (plants).
5) SECONDARY CONSUMER - animal which eats primary consumers.
6) TERTIARY CONSUMER - animal which eats secondary consumers.
7) CARNIVORE- eats onlvanimals, never plants.
8) TOP CARNIVORE - is not eaten bV anvthing else, except decomposers after it dies.
9) OMNIVORE - eats both plants and animal
10) DECOMPOSER - lives off all dead material- producers, consumers, top carnivore, the lot.
11) TROPHIC LEVEL - each step along a food ohain is a trophic level.

Learn about Food Webs, terminology and all ...

's got to be the prettiest food web ever drawn, wouldn't you say? Yeah well, anyway, the
pictures are the easy bit. It's those 11 definitions which you really need to work at.
a1'l1sort out the sheep from the goats in the Exam. 90 make sure you know them all.

A.BCS SECTION FIVE - LIVING THINGS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT

 es in Food Webs

I Heron I

Insect
larvae

I Algae I
Exam 0, - What ha/1Pens if you take out the frogs,,,]
1) This is the usual Exam question.
2) One of the animals is wiped out - what effect will this have on the other creatures?
3) For example, if all the froBs were removed what'd happen to the number of slugs or perch?
4) It's simple enough, but you do have to think if throuBh fairly carefully:
a) !:JLUG!:Jwould increase because there'd be nothinB to eat them now.
b) PERCH is a bit trickier. With no frogs the herons will get hunBrlJ and so will eat more
perch (and minnows and insect larvae), so the perch will in fact decrease in number.

You just have to understand the diagrams (i.e. who eats who) and think about it real carefulllJ.
Think about which animals won't now get eaten, and which animals will Bo hungrlJ. and work out
what they'll do about if - and the effect that will have on all the other things in the web.

Another Exam 0, - What if you took out the Minnows"",] I

1) First of all, water fleas would increase.
2) Perch on the other hand would be really stru~ling. They'd get hungrlJ for a start, but they'd
also get eaten a lot more by pike and heron. Toughsky.
3) FroBs would initially benefit from more insect larvae all to themselves, but would then suffer
from heron eating more froBs due to there being no minnows and fewer perch.
4) !:JluBswould therefore benefit because the frogs would be eating more insect larvae 1instead
of slugs) and also getting eaten by heron. It's all real simple if you just think if out.

Learn about making holes in food webs,,,

If they give you a food web question you can bet your very last fruit cake they're gonna want
to wipe out one of the creatures and ask you what happens then. Practise with both these food
webs by wiping out organisms (only one at a time!) and deciding what'll happen to the others.
 er & Biomass Pgamids I
is hideously easy too. Just make sure you know what all the pyramids mean.

Each Trophic Level you go up, there's fewer of them ...

IN OTHER WORDS, each time you go up one level (one trophic level) the number of organisms
goes down - A LOT. It takes a lot of food from the level below to keep anyone animal alive.
This gives us the good old number pyramid:

1 Fox A typical pyramid

100 Rabbits of numbers
5.000 Dandelions
This is the basic idea anyway. But there are cases where the pyramid is not a pyramid at all:

I Number Pyramids Sometimes Look Wrong I

This is a pyramid except for the This is a pyramid apart from the
top layer which goes huge: bottom layer which is way too small:

I Biomass pyramids Never Look Wrong I

When number pyramids seem to go wrong like this, then the good old PYRAMID OF BIOMASS
comes to the rescue. Biomass is just how much all the creatures at each level would "weigh" if
you put them all together. 90 the one pear tree would have a big biomass and the hundreds of
fleas would have a very small biomass. Biomass pyramids are ALWAYS the right shape:
FI s
Fox
Rabbits
Dan e ions
Basically, biomass pyramids are the only sensible way to do it - it's just that number pyramids
are easier to understand.

Now Children, gfiyour coloured wooden blocks out. ..

... hideously easy ...
 Energy Loss & Efficient Food
All that Energxjust Disa/1Pears Somehow. ..
1) Energy frorn the SUN is
the source of energy for
all life on Earfh.
2) Planfs convert a small %
of the light energy that
falls on thern info glucose.
3) This energy then works its
way through the food
web.
4) But 90% is lost at each stage.
5) 90 frophic level 2 (e.g. cows) contains only 10% of the total chernical
energy (food energy) which is stored in frophic levelT (e.g. feed).
B) The 90% of the ENERGY losf at each stage
is used for sfaying alive,
t t t t t ~ ~~ ~ HEAT 190% I
i.e. in respirafion. which powers all life
processes, including movemenf.
c+ MOVEMENT 7) Most of this energy is eventually losf fo fhe
surroundings as heaf.
~WA9TE9 8) Some energy is also lost frorn the food
$ chain in the droppings - they burn when
dried, proving they still have chernical
energy in thern.
Try if next time you're camping - you'll find you enjoy your midnight sausages that
much more when cooked over a blazing mound of dried sheep poo.

::Efficient" Food Production I ~

1) For a given area of/and. you can produce a lof more food (for hurnans) by growing crops
rather than by grazing animals.
2) This is obvious. You are cuffing ouf an exfra frophic level. Rernernber. only 10% of what
beef came eaf becornes useful meaf for people to eat.

3) In countries where good agricultural land is scarce, they can feed far more people
growing good crops than by grazing caffle or sheep for meaf or milk.

~- 4) However. don't forg~t that just

10%
~ ~,
lil eating crops can quickly lead to

• ~j' <--::> -
_
~
malnufrifion through lack of
essential {lro/eins and minerals,
unless a varied enough diet is
achieved.

Don't have a cow - iust learn it. ..

It's sirnple really - energy frorn the sun is converted to food energy by plants. Don't forget at
each step in the food chain 90% of energy is lost and only 10% gets passed on. You have to
learn the details carefully. Mini-essay tirne again I'd say. Cover fhe page and scribble ...
 mposers & The Carbon Cycle I
1) Living f~ings are made of materials they take from the world around them.
2) When they decompose, ashes are returned to ashes, and dust to dust, as it were.
3) In othe~ words the elements they contain are returned to the soil where they came from originally.
4) The elements are then used by plants to grow and the whole cycle repeats over and over again.

I Bacteria and Fungi are Decomposers I

1) Twoorganisms which break down plant
matter and dead animals are bacteria and I There'sa kid I
fungi. know, and
Extra everIJone calls
2) They work everywhere in nature, and also decomposers f him "the partIJ
1
mushroom". 1m
in compost heaps and sewage works. added
not sure whIJ
(compost maker)
3) All the important elements are thus reallIJ - theIJ
just saIJ he's a
recyoled: Warmth generated fun gUIJ to be
by decomposition I
with ...
Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen helps it all along
and Nitrogen.

The Carbon Cycle Shows how Carbon is Recycled

C02 in the air

Carbon compounds in the soil

being decayed by bacteria

This diagram isn't half as bad as it looks. LEARN these important points:
1) There's only one arrow going DOWN. The whole thing is "powered" by photosynthesis.
2) Both plant and animal respiration puts CO2 back into the atmosphere.
3) Plants convert the carbon in CO2 from the air into fats, carbohydrates and proteins.
4) These can then go three ways: be eaten, decay or be turned into useful products by man.
5) Eating transfers some of the fats, proteins and carbohydrates to new fats, carbohydrates
and proteins in the animal doing the eating.
6) Ultimately these plant and animal products either decay or are burned and CO2 is released.

On llklev Moor ba 'tat, On llkley Moor ba 'tat. .•

Learn what decomposers do and the two organisms mentioned. They like asking about that.
There's another version of the carbon cycle in the Chemistry Book which you really should look at but
I

h·s one is easier to understand. Practise scribbling it out from memo"J. And keep IrlJing lilllJou can.
 The NitrllJ/en Cycle
N2 in the atmosphere
Nitroge
fixing
bacte
in

The atmosphere contains 79% nitrogen gas, N2•

) This is very unreaotive and cannot be used direotly by plants or animals.
) Nitrogen is an important element in making protein and also DNA, so we really need it.
) Nitrogen in the air has to turned into nitrates, NO;. or ammonium ions. NH4+. before plants can
use it. Animals can only use proteins made by plants.
6) Nitrogen Fixation is the process of turning N.2 from the air into a more reaotive form which
plants oan use (and no it isn't an obsession with breathing in and out).
7) There are THREE MAIN WAYS that it happens: 1) Lightning, 2) Nitrogen fixing baoteria in
roots and soil, 3) The manufaoture of artifioial fertilisers by the Haber prooess.
8) There are four different types of baoteria involved in the nitrogen cycle:
a) NITRIFYING BACTERIA - these turn ammonium oompounds in decaying matter
into useful nitrates
b) NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA - these turn useless atmospherio Nfl into useful nitrates.
c) PUTREFYING BACTERIA (decomposers) - these decompose proteins and Jll!l.fl. into
ammonia or ammonium oompounds.
d) DE-NITRIFYING BACTERIA - these turn nitrates back into N.~. This is of no benefit.

9) Some nitrogen-fixing baoteria live in the soil. Others live a mutualistio relationship with certain
plants, called legumes. by living in nodules in their roots - the bacteria get food from the
• plant. and the plant gets nitrogen oompounds from the bacteria - to make into proteins.
=
- 10) Any organio waste. i.e. rotting plants or dead animals or animal poo, will contain useful
nitrogen oompounds (proteins). so they all make good fertiliser if they're put baqk into the soil.
11) Leguminous plants (legumes) such as olover are useful in orop rotation sohemes, where the
field is left for a year to just grow olover. and then it's all simply ploughed baok into the soil.
This adds a lot of nitrates to the soil when the plants deoay.
12) Lightning adds nitrates to the soil by splitting up Nfl into nitrogen atoms which react with the
oxygen in the air to form oxides of nitrogen. These then dissolve in rain. and fall t~ the
ground where they combine with other things to form nitrates.

lJY Gum, YOU young 'uns have some stuff to learn •••
It's really "grisly grimsdike" is the Nitrogen Cycle, I think. But the fun guys at the Exam Boards
want you to know all about it, so there you go. Have a good time •.• and smile!
 Acid Rain
Burnin.g Fossil Fuels Causes Acid Rain
1) When fossil fuels are burned they release mostly oarbon dioxide which is causing the
Greenhouse Effeot. They also release two other harmful gases:
a) SULPHUR DIOXIDE b) various NITROGEN OXIDES
2) When these mix with olouds they form aoids. This then falls as aoid rain.
3) Cars and power stations are the main oauses of acid rain.

I Acid Rain Kills Fish, Trees and Statues I

1) Acid rain causes lakes to become aoidio which has a severe effeot on its eoosystem.
2) The way this happens is that the acid causes aluminium salts to dissolve into the water.
The resulting aluminium ions are poisonous to many fish and birds.
3) Acid rain kills trees.
4) Acid rain damages limestone buildings
and ruins stone statues.

Acid Rain is PreventedlJy CleaninY..1lP Emissions

1) Power stations now have Aoid Gas Sorubbers
to take the harmful gases out before they
release their fumes into the atmosphere.
2) Cars are now being fitted with oatalytio
oonverters to clean up their exhaust gases.
3) The other way of reducing acid rain is simply
to reduoe our usage of fossil fuels.

Learn about Acid Rain - and always take a coat. ..

There aren't too many details on acid rain. If you can't learn all this lot properly then you're just not
trying. Don't forget they won't ask you easy stuff like "Is acid rain caused by cars or monkeys?", they'll
test you on trickier stuff like "Which gases cause acid rain and why?". Learn and eniolJ. And smile. ©
 The Greenhouse Effect
arbon Dioxide and Methane Trap Heat from the Sun
The femperafure of the Earth
is a balance between the
heat it gets from fhe sun
and the heat it radiafes back
auf info space.
The afmosphere acts like an
Heat
insulafing laver and keeps radiation
some of the heat in. reflected
) This is exactly what happens back to
Earth
in a greenhouse or a
conservaforv·
The sun shines info if and the glass keeps fhe heaf in so it just gets hoffer and hoffer.
) There are several differenf gases in the atmosphere which are very good at keeping fhe heaf
in. They are called "greenhouse gases", oddly enough. The main ones that we worry about
are mefhane and carbon dioxide, because the levels of these are rising quife sharply.
5) The Greenhouse Effecf is causing the Earth to warm up very slowly.

The Greenhouse Effect may cause Flooding and DrougM~

1) Changes in weafher pafferns and climafe could cause problems of drought or nooding.
Q) The melfing of the polar ice-caps would raise sea-levels and could cause nooding to many
10w-IVing coasfal parfs of the world including manv major cifies.

Modern Industrial Life is Causing the Greenhouse Effect

1) The level of CO(2 in the atmosphere used to be nicelv balanced
% CO2 in
between the CO2 released by respiration (of animals and ~:~:: atmosphere
plants) and the CO2 absorbed bV phofosvnfhesis. ~~::
Q} However, mankind has been burning massive amounfs of fossil 0032
0.031

fuels in the last fwo hundred years or so. 0.030

3} We have also been cuffing down frees all over the world to ~~~:
make space for living and farming. This is called deforesfafion. 0027"00

4} The level of CO2 in the atmosphere has gone up by about

20%, and will confinue fo rise ever more steeply as long as Temp (OC)
0.5
we keep burning fossil fuels - just look at that graph - eek!

I Methane is Also a Problem I

1} Mefhane gas is also contributing to the Greenhouse Effecf. 1850
0.25

::~age-- - - - - ~
1900 1950
~

--- ~:~
20 0

Q} It's produced nafurally from various sources, such as nafural marshland. 00

3} However, the two sources of methane which are on fhe increase are: ~
a} Rice growing
b} Caffle rearing - it's the cows "pumping" that's the problem, believe it or not. ']

Learn the facts first - then start buildingyour ark...

I bet you never realised there were so many drivelly details on the Greenhouse Effect.
Well there are and I'm afraid they could all come up in your Exam, so you just gotta learn them.
Use the good old mini-essay method for each section, and scribble down whaf VOUknow •..
 Environmental Dama~
DEFORESTATION- The Four Big Problems it Causes...
We have already pretty well deforested OUR COUNTRY.
Now many under-developed countries are doing the same.
However, there are several serious environmental
problems that can occur when they suddenly cut lots of
trees down in these tropical climates:
1) DECREASE IN RAINFALL in that area because moisture
is no longer evaporating into the air from the trees.
2) SERIOUS SOIL EROSION when it rains heavily because
there are no roots to hold it all together.
3) SERIOUS FLOODING because the soil gets washed into
the rivers, silts them up, and over they flow...
4) INCREASE IN CO2 LEVELS in the atmosphere because
the trees aren't there to remove it any more.

CFCsCause The Hole in The Ozone laYfi I

1) Ozone consists of molecules made
of three oxvgen atoms, 03•
2) There is a lalJer of ozone high up
in the atmosphere.
3) Ozone absorbs harmful UV rays
from the sun.
4) CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) gases
which are used in aerosols and
fridges, react with ozone
molecules and break them up.
5) This thinning of the ozone layer
allows harmful UV ralJs to reach
the surface of the Earth.
B) This is making it dangerous to go out in
the sun in many parts of the world due
to the increased risk of skin cancer from
the harmful UV rays.
7) CFCs are being replaced by other gases
now, but the harmful effects of the
CFCs alreadlJ released may continue for
centuries.

So much to learn, so little time to learn it. ..

More environment problems. This stuff can certainly get a bit tedious. At first it can be quite
interesting, but then having to make sure you've learnt all those drivelly little details is not.
Still, there's worse things in life than a bit of revision. So learn and en;olJ. It's the only way.
 estiddes Have Damaging Effects I
esticides Disturb Food Chains I
1) Pesticides are sprayed onto most crops to kill the various insects that can damage the crops.
2) Unfortunately, they also kill lots of harmless insects such as bees and bufferflies.
3) Destroying these insects is damaging because they are pollinators, essential for plant
reproduction.
4) Their destruction can also cause a shortage of food for many insect-eating birds.
5) Pesticides tend to be poisonous and there's always the danger of the poison passing on to
other animals (as well as humans) causing food chains to be disturbed.

I Each otter eats lots of eels I

I Insecticide I
Each little tiny animal
eats lots of small plants

1) This is well illustrated by the case of offers which were almost wiped out over much of
crop-dominated Southern England by DOT in the early 1960s.
2) The diagram shows the food chain which ends with the offer.
3) DOT is not excreted so it accumulates along the food chain
4) The offer ends up with all the DOT collected by all the other animals.

Toxin levels Increase along a foodchain I

1) When a toxin like DOT enters a food chain it increases in concentration at each trophic level.
2) In the above example a small amount of DOT enters the food chain at the level of the
producers, small water plants.
3) These plants are then eaten by the primary consumers, (the small fish), which take in the
poison.
4) At each trophic level in the food chain the level of DOT increases because each consumer eats
more biomass.
5) By the time you reach the top carnivore, the poor old otter, the level of DOT is high enough to
cause death.

Don't get bugged by Revision - iust learn and en~

Make sure you know the problems which can arise from using pesticides and how toxins like
these can build up in a food chain. You have to learn the details carefully. Mini-essay time
again I'd say. Cover the page and scribble •..
I Fertilisers and land Clearing
I Fertilisers Damage Lakes and Rivers I
1) Ferfilisers which contain nitrates are essential to modern farming.
2) Without them crops wouldn1t grow nearly so well. and food yields would be well down.
3) This is because the crops take nitrates out of the soil and these nitrates need to be replaced.
4) The problems start if some of the rich fertiliser finds its way into rivers and streams.
5) This happens quite easily if too much fertiliser is applied, especially if it rains soon afterwards.
6) As the picture shows, too many nitrates in the water cause a sequence of IImega-growthll,
"mega-death" and "mega-decm)' involving most of the plant and animal life in the water.

Excess nitrate washes into

river causing rapid growth Some plants start dying The microbes increase and use up all the
of plants and algae due to competition for light oxygen in the water causing death of fish etc.

6) This process of ferfilisers leaching into lakes and rivers causing the build up of dead plant matter
and eventually the suffocation of aquatic animals is called EUTROPHICATION. It basically means
IItoo much of a good thingll. (Raw sewage pumped into rivers can cause the same problem.)

7) Farmers need to take a lot more care when spreading artificial fertilisers.

I Land Clearing can Destroy the Environment I

1) A method of increasing food production is to clear more land to make larger fields.
2) This can have devastating effects on the environment.
3) Land clearing destroys the natural habitat of
many wild creatures leaving them homeless.
4) Clearing land and the removal of hedges can
lead to serious soil erosion.
5) Soil is washed and blown away when it is no
longer protected from the wind and rain.
6) The most tragic result is the loss of
meadowlands full of wild flowers. of natural
woodlands and orchards of cherry trees, of
rolling fields of grass and flowers, and tree-
topped hills and leafy lanes - just swept
away in a couple of decades. along with all the
natural timeless beauty of rural England.

There's nowt wrong wi' iust spreadin' muck on it...

Make sure you learn how fertilisers can interfere with life in lakes and rivers. Learn all the
consequences of land clearing for animals and the environment. You have to learn the details
carefully. Mini-essay time again I'd say. Cover the page and scribble ...
 Managed Ecosystems
Farming Produces a Lot of Food, Which is Great but. ..
Modern methods of farming and agriculture give us the ability to produce plentlJ of food for
everyone. But there's a hefty price to pay. One that we're already paying.
Modern Farming methods can damage the world we live in. making it polluted, unattractive and
bereft of wildlife. As we have seen pesticides. fertilisers and land clearing can have serious
consequences:

1) REMOVALOF HEDGE8to make huge great fields destrolJs the natural habitat of many wild
creatures. and can lead to serious soil erosion.
2) Careless use of FERTIL/8ER8 pollutes rivers and lakes, making them green, slimlJ and horrible.
3) PE8TICIDE8 D18TURBFOOD CHAIN8 and reduce many insect, bird and mammal populations.

It is possible to farm efficiently and still maintain a healthy and beautiful environment.
But maximum profit and eflicienclJ will have to be compromised, if we are to make our
countryside more than just one big industrial food factorfJ. and also to treat our fellow
creatures (many of whom we will eventually eat) with some basic level of decenclJ and
respect and humanitfJ.

QIganic Farming is still perfectlY...Viable I

Modern farming produces a lot of top qualitlJ food and we all appreciate it on the supermarket
shelves. However, you certainly could NOT describe modern farming as "a carefully managed
ecosystem" and each new modern farming technique tends to create various "unforeseen" or
"unfore-cared-abour consequences.
Iradifional farming methods do still work (amazingly!), but they produce rather less food per
acre and it's a bit more expensive too. The positive side to it is that the whole ecoslJstem stays
in balance, the countryside still looks prettfJ and the animals get a fair deal too.
Now that Europe is over-producing food in a big way, it may be time to pay more attention to
these things rather than "maximum food yield at all costs". It is possible to produce plenty of
food and still maintain a balanced ecoslJstem. The THREEMAIN THING8that can be done are:

1) Use of organic ferfilisers (Le. spreadin' muck on it - and there's nowt wrong wi' that).
2) Reforestation and "set-aside" land for meadows. to give wild planfs and animals a chance.
3) Biological confrol of pests. Trying to control pests which damage crops with other creafures
which eat them is a reasonable alternative to using pesticides. and although it's not always
quite so effective. at least there are no harmful food chain problems.

I The Answers are Not Straightforward I .

When making decisions about the environmenf many considerations must be taken into account.
Historical, economic and social questions must be addressed before changes can be made.
Farming may be the sole income for some countries and it is not as simple as telling people to
stop doing things which they have been doing for fhousands of years.
It is a very complex issue. a lot like life in general really. (But thats what makes it interesting!)<

Learn It and Make a Real Difference ...

Phew! Just look at all those words crammed onto one page. Geesh .... I mean blimey, it almost
looks like a page from a normal science book. Almost. Anyway. there it all is. on the page, just
waiting to be blended with the infinite void inside your head. Learn and enjofJ... and scribble.