Sci230 Food Web

The ecosystem I selected was a Caribbean coral reef. The food web diagram is below:

* List the organisms that can be found in your ecosystem. What is the benefit of this biodiversity?

The organisms displayed in my food web from top trophic level to lowest trophic level are, sharks, fish eating fish, invertebrate eating fish, invertebrates, microorganisms found in sand and coral like bacteria and worms. The benefit of biodiversity is that it promotes coral reef ecosystem health, genetic diversity, and favors a stable environment for the organisms.

Write a summary of your food chain that:

* Describes the major categories of organisms: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Producers are organisms that are autotrophic. Thus they can create their own and food from using the sunlight. Coral reef systems have very few producers. The nearest producers are mangrove trees and seagrass beds. Often these are located only a hundred yards away from the coral reef. There are many consumers, or organisms, which must hunt to obtain their food and energy. On a coral reef there are fish eating marine mammals, fish eating fish, invertebrate eating fish, and invertebrates, which eat detritus. Decomposers are bacteria, worms, and zooxanthelle. They are found within the sand and some are actually inside the coral substrate.

* Describes the interactions between organisms in your ecosystem

There are numerous interactions that take place on a coral reef. There are the typical types of interactions that take place between predatory and prey. And, there are some that are unique to coral reefs. Cleaning symbioses take place between different species of fish ad shrimp, where one fish or shrimp cleans another fish. Their cleaning is like little nips at the body of the fish which aid in parasite removal. Organisms interact with one another through changes in physical color, body movement, and positive and agonistic behaviors.

* Evaluates potential hazards...