Food Webs, Food Chains, and the Biosphere

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Food Webs, Food Chains, and the Biosphere

• By JP Faraj and Noah Segall

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Questions

• What are food chains and webs?
• Whats this 90 Rule that is always mentioned?
• If biospheres are so huge, how can we study them?

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Food Chains and Food Webs

• A food chain is a pathway that tells what eats
  what in a community
• There are different levels in a food chain
  composers, producers, and consumers.
• When all the food chains in a community are
  connected to each other, a food web is formed.
• A food web extends the food chain concept from a
  simple linear pathway to a complex network of
  interactions
• More information can be found on pages 8 through
  11 of the textbook.

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90 Rule

• The 90 Rule is the general approximation of
  energy that is transferred from each of the
  levels of a food chain or food web. When going
  from one level of a food chain or web to another,
  90 of the energy from the consumed organism is
  lost to other forms of energy, and only 10 is
  actually passed on.
• More information can be found on page 55 of the
  textbook.

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Biosphere

• Our biosphere includes all of the organisms and
  the air, soil, and water surrounding them.
• All organisms in a biosphere are part of the web
  of life.
• Humans can easily affect a biosphere.
• Small biospheres can be made to make the study of
  the biosphere around us, and biospheres in
  general, a lot easier.
• More information can be found on pages 12 through
  14 of the textbook.