ECOLOGY FOOD WEBS AND CHAINS

FOOD WEBS & FOOD CHAINS should by now be a well understood concept so, try this difficult
problem. Convert the following written information into a diagrammatic form a food web. You may
have to research a little to find out what some of the organisms are, although their actual names are not so
important.
The following relationships may be observed on many rocky sea shores, some when the tide is in (high
tide) and some when the tide is out (low tide):
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
a)

limpets (molluscs) grazing on diatoms (small algae), which are attached to rocks
dog-whelks (snails) eating barnacles (crustaceans) and mussels (molluscs)
crabs consuming dead mussels in cracks in the rocks
barnacles feeding on zooplankton (animal plankton, often one celled organisms or tiny larvae
of crustaceans, etc.)
mussels feeding on phytoplankton (plant plankton single celled algae, etc.)
periwinkles (snails) feeding on diatoms attached to seaweeds
sea-gulls (scavenging sea birds) feeding on dead crabs
turnstones (a wading bird) feeding on dog-whelks, limpets and periwinkles, which they kill.

(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)

Which of the organisms above are herbivores

which are primary consumers
which are autotrophs
which are secondary consumers
which are tertiary consumers
which are detritivores
which are heterotrophs?

b)

Construct two complete food chains from the descriptions given above. Of course, each food
chain does not need to include all the organisms listed in (i) to (viii) above.

c)

Construct a whole food web for this rocky shore community.