2.

5 Food Webs and Ecological Pyramids

If you ran blindfolded through a forest in Ontario, you would not likely run
into a moose or trip over a raccoon. Instead, you would quickly hit a tree or
trip over the plants tangled around your feet (Figure 1).

Figure 1 There are many more large

plants than large animals in this
ecosystem.

Why are there so many large trees and other plants and so few large
animals? Why are you surrounded by hundreds of hungry black flies
and mosquitoes but not hundreds of birds or frogs ready to eat them?
The answers lie in the relationships between species in ecosystems. Each
species is influenced and limited by its surroundings and by the resources it
requires. Think about which plants and animals are abundant and which are
rare in the ecosystem you live in.

Ecological Niches
Every species interacts with other species and with its environment in a unique
ecological niche the function a species way. These interactions define the ecological niche of a species. This is the role
serves in its ecosystem, including what it of a species within its ecosystem. A species’ niche includes what it feeds on,
eats, what eats it, and how it behaves
what eats it, and how it behaves. No two species occupy identical niches.
The niche of a black bear is as follows: black bears feed on tender plant
parts such as nuts and berries (Figure 2). They supplement their diet with
insects and other small animals. Bears may carry seeds long distances in
their digestive systems before the seeds are expelled and germinate. Bears
go into hibernation during the winter. While they have few predators other
than human hunters, black bears are themselves fed on by many blood-
feeding insects and are hosts to a variety of parasites.
A key feature of any ecosystem is the feeding roles of each species. In
Section 2.4, we distinguished between producers and consumers according
to how organisms obtain their energy. Consumers can be further subdivided
depending on what types of organisms they eat (Table 1).

Table 1 Types of Consumers

Feeding role Definition

herbivore animal that eats plants or other producers
carnivore animal that eats other animals
omnivore animal that eats both plants and animals
Figure 2 Black bears eat berries and
nuts. scavenger animal that feeds on the remains of another organism

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 Food Chains and Food Webs
The most common interactions between species are through feeding
relationships. The easiest way to display these relationships is with
food chains. Food chains illustrate who eats whom in an ecosystem. In food chain a sequence of organisms,
Figure 3, the seeds of a producer (the pine tree) are eaten by a herbivore (the each feeding on the next, showing how
energy is transferred from one organism
red squirrel), which is in turn eaten by a carnivore (the weasel). The weasel
to another
then falls prey to a top carnivore (the goshawk).

Figure 3 A simple food chain in a forest

pine cone (seeds) red squirrel weasel goshawk ecosystem

In this food chain, some of the chemical energy stored in the pine seeds Learning Tip
is passed through the red squirrel to the weasel and ends up in the goshawk. Reading Food Chains
In this way, food chains show how energy passes through an ecosystem. In a food chain diagram, the arrows
Remember that all organisms continually use and release energy to their
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environment. This means that energy is continuously lost from all levels of flow. Arrows are read as “is eaten by.”
For example, the red squirrel is eaten
the food chain.
by the weasel.
Ecologists refer to the trophic level, or feeding level, to describe the
position of an organism along a food chain. Producers occupy the lowest,
trophic level the level of an organism in
or first, trophic level. Herbivores occupy the second trophic level, and an ecosystem depending on its feeding
carnivores occupy the third and fourth trophic levels (Figure 4). position along a food chain

fourth trophic level

tertiary consumers

third trophic level

secondary consumers

second trophic level

primary consumers

first trophic level

producers

Figure 4 Species can be divided into

trophic levels depending on how they
obtain their energy.
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Food chains do not exist in nature. They are used to show simple feeding
relationships. Food chains are part of more complex sets of relationships
that exist among species. Many herbivores eat pine seeds. Red squirrels
eat a wide range of foods and are themselves food for a variety of predators. food web a representation of the feeding
A more accurate, but still incomplete, way to illustrate interactions is with relationships within a community
a food web. This shows a series of interconnecting food chains.
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 DID YOU KNOW? Food webs are highly complex, with consumers feeding on many species
Bizarre Niches (Figure 5). The large number of interactions tends to reduce the vulnerability
Pearlfish are marine fish with slender of any one species to the loss or decline of another species. For this reason,
bodies. Most species of pearlfish complex food webs are thought to be more stable than simple food webs.
hide inside the digestive system
of sea cucumbers (simple marine
animals). They enter and exit through
the anus! Some species of pearlfish
have evolved to live inside the sea
cucumber, feeding on its internal
organs.
great horned owl
lynx
goshawk

weasel

snowshoe hare
Figure 5 A partial food web of the
boreal forest. A complete model of the
red squirrel
interactions in this ecosystem food
web would show thousands of species
including scavengers and decomposers
which feed on dead organisms and
wastes. Note that the food chain from
Figure 3 is embedded in this food web.
What would happen if the lynx was
removed from the food web? pine tree blueberry bush aspen tree wild grasses

Food webs are useful tools to figure out what may happen when a species
is removed from or added to an ecosystem. For example, if a species is
removed from a food web, the species it feeds on may increase dramatically
in numbers. Conversely, the population of a newly introduced species may
disrupt the entire food chain (Figure 6).
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bass pickerel

native crayfish rusty crayfish minnow

Figure 6 The invasive rusty crayfish

(labelled in red) competes with native
crayfish for many of the same foods.
It also feeds on the eggs of bass and
pickerel. Large fish feed on native
crayfish but usually avoid eating the aquatic aquatic worm leech snail
rusty crayfish. insect plant

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 T RY THIS WeaVing a FOOD WeB
SKILLS: Predicting, Analyzing, Communicating

In this activity, you will examine a rainforest food web. 5. Brainstorm three or four other species that live in tropical
Equipment and Materials: set of rainforest species cards; large rainforests. Add them to your food web.
piece of paper; glue stick; coloured pencils or markers A. How many connections did you include in your initial
food web? K/U
1. Obtain a set of “rainforest species cards.” Each card will
have the name of a species and a brief description of its B. Which species do you think would be most affected if
living habits. For simplicity, decomposers have not been anteaters were removed from this ecosystem? T/I
included. C. How would the removal of fig wasps alter this ecosystem?
2. On a large piece of paper, spread out the species cards. What would happen to the population of fig trees over a long
Place the producers near the bottom, the carnivores near period of time? Explain. T/I C
the top, and the herbivores in the middle. Glue each card in D. Which species had the most direct connections to
position. other species within the ecosystem? Was this surprising?
3. Use light pencil lines to connect species that feed on other Explain. T/I C
species. Include arrows to indicate the direction of energy E. Unlike tropical rainforests, the tundra has relatively few
flow. The arrows should point from the food supplier to the species. How might the loss of a species in the tundra
food consumer. compare to the loss of a species in a tropical rainforest? T/I

4. Colour in the pencil arrows using the following colour code: F. Describe how food webs show the interdependence of one
A green line joins any plant to any of its consumers. A blue species on all other species. T/I
line joins any herbivore to any of its consumers. A red line
joins any carnivore to any of its consumers.

Ecological Pyramids
Another way ecologists illustrate how ecosystems function is through
ecological pyramids. Ecological pyramids display relationships between ecological pyramid a representation of
trophic levels in ecosystems. The three types of ecological pyramids are energy, numbers, or biomass relationships
in ecosystems
energy, numbers, and biomass. An energy pyramid illustrates energy loss
and transfer between trophic levels (Figure 7).

tertiary
consumers
goshawk

secondary
consumers
weasel,
red fox

primary
consumers
red squirrel,
moose,
snowshoe hare Figure 7 Only a small proportion of the
producers total energy at any given trophic level
blueberry, is passed on to the next level. Energy
pine, is used in biological processes such as
grasses growth and reproduction and is lost as
thermal energy (red arrows).

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 reaDing Tip The size of each layer in the energy pyramid represents the amount of
Making Connections energy available at that trophic level. A continuous supply of energy is
When trying to make connections with a essential for all living things. By examining how energy flow is depicted in
text, use prompts or questions such as these diagrams, you will gain a better understanding of the relationships
• I already know about. . . between species, including why some species are much more abundant
• It makes me wonder why. . . than others.
• Does this text remind me of As one organism consumes another, it obtains both the physical matter
something I have experienced?
(nutrients) and the chemical food energy it needs to survive, grow, and
• Does the information in this selection
match or differ from information I
reproduce. However, each time energy is used, some of it is released to the
have read in other texts? environment as thermal energy. You can feel an example of lost thermal
energy by placing your hand on your forehead. Organisms such as plants
also release small quantities of thermal energy to the environment.
Plants use the energy they obtain from the Sun for growth, reproduction,
and cellular activities. Some of this energy is lost to the environment.
As a result, less energy is available for the herbivores that eat the plants.
Herbivores use most of the energy they obtain from plants for their own
life processes. Only about 10 % of the energy taken in by the individuals at
one trophic level is passed on to individuals at the next level. For example,
a moose that is eight years old does not possess the food energy of all the
plants it has eaten since it was born. A wolf that eats the moose would obtain
only a small portion of the lifetime energy consumption of the moose.
Species in the highest trophic levels have less energy available to them
than species near the bottom. This often results in their populations being
much smaller than species lower in the food chain. This is why an ecosystem
will have fewer predators, such as hawks, than herbivores, such as mice.
Populations that occupy different trophic levels vary in their numbers
biomass the mass of living organisms in and their biomass, which is the total mass of all individuals combined.
a given area A pyramid of numbers shows the number of individuals of all populations
in each trophic level, whereas a pyramid of biomass shows the total mass
of organisms in each trophic level (Figure 8).

secondary consumers
predators, parasites
primary consumers
insect herbivores

Figure 8 (a) A simplified pyramid of producers

numbers and (b) a pyramid of biomass trees
for a deciduous forest ecosystem (a) (b)

An energy pyramid will always decrease in size from lower to higher

trophic levels (remember Figure 7 on page 45). This is not always the case
with pyramids of numbers or biomass. In a forest ecosystem, the tiny
plant-feeding insects in the second trophic level outnumber the trees in the
first trophic level (Figure 9, next page). The biomass of all the trees, however,
is much greater than the biomass of herbivores, so this pyramid of biomass
will have a typical pyramid shape.
Organisms that feed at lower trophic levels generally have much more
energy and biomass available to them. For this reason, herbivores are usually
more numerous than carnivores. It also means that disruptions or changes at
lower trophic levels can have profound impacts on the entire ecosystem.
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 Figure 9 There will always be more
aphids than plants in a forest, but the
biomass of plants will be greater.

As omnivores, humans feed at most trophic levels (although some people

choose to be herbivores). As you will learn, the choices we make about
our feeding patterns have significant implications for food production and
ecosystem sustainability.

UNIT TASK Bookmark

You can apply what you learned about the interactions between species in food webs in
this section to the Unit Task described on page 156.

in SUMMARY
• Every species occupies a unique ecological niche. • Higher trophic levels always have less energy
• Feeding relationships between organisms can available to them.
be represented by food chains, food webs, and • Ecological pyramids can be used to display
trophic levels. energy, number, and biomass relationships.
• Energy is continuously being lost to the
environment by all living organisms.

CHECK YOUr Learning

1. What is meant by the term ecological niche? Describe the 8. (a) How would the food web in Figure 10 change if the red
ecological niche of humans and of three other species. K/U fox were killed off by rabies?
2. Explain the differences between food chains and food webs. K/U (b) What species would benefit?
3. Describe some possible impacts of adding or removing a (c) What species might decline? K/U A

species from an ecosystem. K/U

4. As you go up from one trophic level to the next, the amount red fox hawk
of available energy decreases. Explain where the energy
has gone. K/U
5. What trophic level contains the greatest biomass in most rabbit mouse squirrel
ecosystems? Explain why this occurs. K/U
6. What trophic levels are occupied by carnivores? Provide
examples. K/U grasses berries tree seeds

7. Bison, zebra, and kangaroos are three large mammals. Figure 10

Explain why they have similar ecological niches but cannot
be shown in the same food web. K/U A

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