Aquatic Food Web and Trophic Levels
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This is a food web found in a lake environment. The food web consists of phytoplankton, zooplankton, minnows, crayfish, otters, pike, and bass.
- Phytoplankton- microscopic marine algae and is the base of several aquatic food webs
- Zooplankton- animal component of plankton, limited power of locomotion
- Minnow- small silvery fish, under 4 inches
- Crayfish- joined head and thorax, segmented body which can be many different colors
- Otter- webbed feet, has seal like abilities
- Pike- elongate body with a shovel like mouth, small scales, small sharp teeth
- Bass- opaque dorsal and caudal fins with green/olive color, robust body
- 1st Trophic Level
The first tropic level are the producers. Producers are organisms that create food from inorganic matter. Examples of producers are plants and in this case, the producer in a lake would be phytoplankton.
- 2nd Trophic Level
The 2nd trophic level are the primary consumers. Primary consumers are herbivores that feed on the producers. The primary consumers in a lake are zooplankton and minnows. They both consume and get their energy from the phytoplankton.
- 3rd Trophic Level
The 3rd trophic level are secondary consumers. Secondary consumers eat the primary consumers for energy. Secondary consumers can either be carnivores or omnivores. In a lake the secondary consumers are the crayfish.
Trophic Level Pyramid
