Trophic Structures in Ecosystems

Oceanic Food web

Food webs in ecosystems can be very complex, like the one shown above for an oceanic ecosystem. To study the relationships, scientists look at different levels of the ecosystem based on what they eat.

Please click on Jesus and Cielo below to learn more. Then answer the question below.

Created with CAST's UDL Book Builder
CAST would like to thank Texthelp Inc. for use of the SpeechStream toolbar

Food webs are made of many food chains that are inter-connected. Food chains show the eating relationships among plants and animals. An example of a food chain: Leaf eaten by a caterpillar eaten by a bird eaten by a snake eaten by a eagle.

Listen

When food chains are put together, they form food webs. There are many food webs in a single ecosystem, like the ocean, shown above. No one wants to eat one thing all the time and it helps animals survive by having more than one food source.

Listen

Select this then click anywhere in the book to start reading text Speak the current selection Stops speech playback Double-click a word in the book and click this icon to translate the word into Spanish