Trophic Cascades: HHMI Click and Learn

Go to the website: h p://www.hhmi.org/biointerac ve/exploring-trophic-cascades

1. De ne the term trophic cascade.

Trophic cascades ism when a species is signi cantly reduced or removed from the ecosystem and causes
an imbalance in the ecosystem.

2. What kind of e ect do o ers have on kelp? Explain why.

The o ers have a posi ve e ect on the kelp. For example, when you add more o ers to the ecosystem,
the o ers control the popula on of sea urchins from becoming too large. The sea urchins consume the
kelp which means if sea o ers are are more abundant, the kelp popula on would increase due to a
decrease in primary consumers.

3. What e ect of the disappearance of the o ers on the diet of the glaucous-winged gulls?
A er the disappearance of the o ers, the glaucous-winged gulls shi ed from ea ng sh to mainly
invertebrates.

4. What e ect of the disappearance of the o ers on the diet of bald eagles?
A er the disseverance on the o ers, the bald eagles diet shi ed to ea ng more birds.
Select the Arc c Tundra Case Study:
1. What is the e ect of foxes on seabirds? Explain your answer.
Based on the Arc c Tundra Case Study, the foxes had a nega ve e ect on seabirds. For instance, when
there is an abundance of foxes the seabirds would decrease in size in popula on because they would
have more predators.

2. What is the e ect of seabirds on soil nutrients? Explain your answer.

Seabirds have a posi ve e ect on soil because birds drop a rich source of nutrients on the soil which
cause an increase in soil nutrients,
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 3. What is the e ect of soil nutrients on grass? Explain your answer.
Soil nutrients have a posi ve e ect on grass because soil nutrients allow for more plant growth .

Describe the picture that illustrates the e ect of the addi on of foxes to an arc c tundra ecosystem.
Explain why this is the result
In the picture, we can see the the addi on of the foxes would have a nega ve impact on the arc c
tundra ecosystem. This is the result because when there is an abundance of foxes, the seabird
popula on would go down which would lead to a nega ve impact on the soil nutrients and the grass.
Select the Midwestern Lake Case Study:

1. What is the e ect of bass on minnows? Explain your answer.

The bass has a nega ve e ect on the minnows because the minnows are preyed by the bass and if there
is a increase in bass, there would be a decrease in minnows.
2. What is the e ect of phytoplankton (photosynthe c microorMiganisms) on carbon in ux-
removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? Explain your answer.
The phytoplankton have a posi ve impact on the carbon in ux because if there is an increase in
phytoplankton there would be a reduce in carbon in the water which would cause a carbon in ux in the
atmosphere.

3. What is the e ect the bass on the amount of carbon stored in the lake? Explain your answer.
Bass have a posi ve impact on the carbon stored on the lake. This is because bass reduces the minnows
in the lake and if there is a decrease of minnows, there would be an increase on zooplankton, which
would lead to a decrease in phytoplankton which would nega vely a ect the carbon in ux. This means
that there would be more carbon stored in the lake since the lake would not be able to release carbon
out of the water.

Select the African Savannah Case Study

1. What is the e ect of the rinderpest virus on the wildebeest popula on? Explain your answer.
The rinderpest virus has a nega ve impact on the wildebeest popula on because if there is an increase
of rinderpest popula on, more wildebeest would get infected and die o .
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 2. What is the e ect of vegeta on on the amount of res? Explain your answer.
There is a posi ve e ect of vegeta on on the amount of res because if there is more vegeta on, it is
more likely for a re to start.

Describe the graph that illustrates the e ect of eradica on (ge ng rid of) of the rinderpest virus
through a vaccina on program. Explain why this would be the result of the elimina on of the virus.
The graph is showing that if there were no rinderpest virus there would be a higher amount of
uncontrolled viruses and a lower amount on vaccines because of the eradica on of the rinderpest virus.
If there is no rinderpest viruses, it doesn’t serve a threat to the environment.
Select the Venezuelan Jungle Case Study:

Describe the landscape that has large predators. Explain your answer
In the landscape that has large predators, there is an abundance of vegeta on/trees because predators
control the amount of herbivores in an ecosystem from ea ng the vegeta on. If there are fewer
herbivores, more trees will survive.
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