A scientist wants to determine how much Yellow Perch relies on Opossum Shrimp in a lake as a food source. They first isolate a small group of Yellow Perch from the pond.
Identify a reasonable hypothesis that would help guide the scientist to their answer.
Identify the dependent variable in your proposed hypothesis.
Explain how the results of the experiment might be affected by other influences in the ecosystem.
Use the food web to identify the following:
Identify the trophic level represented by green algae, blue-green algae, and flagellates.
Identify three species that are intermediate predators (secondary or tertiary consumers) in the marine food web.
Describe the effects of removing the green algae species from the marine food web in Lake Michigan.
Energy transfers between trophic levels:
Green algae produces 1,000 grams of biomass, which represents usable chemical energy. Describe the approximate amount of energy from that biomass that will transfer from green algae to the native water fleas in the food web.
Explain why energy is lost moving from a lower trophic level to a higher trophic level.