Food Webs

deposit feeding 

ingest sediment or particles within the sediment 

• sea cucumber

suspension/filter feeder

strain and filter food particles within the water

• whales & rays

food web

branching that have multiple paths for singular food items

food chain

unbranched, having only one organism to each level

only __ of energy from a primary producer enters the food chain 

2

only __ of energy is transferred to the next trophic level

10

phytoplankton, primary producers 

biomass of _____ mirror the biomass of _____ ______

microbial loop

leaked organic matter from primary producers eaten by bacteria → eaten by protozoans → eaten by zooplankton → returns to organic matter again 

half

as much as _____ of primary production passes through the microbial loop

detritus

a pool of carbon and energy that is not living

deposit & suspension feeder

what types of organisms feed on detritus to strop the easily digested microbial carbon from it?

microbal carbon

______ are bridges between detritus and carnivores

kelp forest - cannot be eaten directly by carnivores but carnivores can eat detritus from the seaweeds

example of detrital food web