The Rock Pool Food Web

Rock Pool Food Web

Every food web/chain has a producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer and a carnivore.

It is evident that the green seaweed is the producer, because it doesn’t feeds from something else, it produces its’ own food.

The whelk is the primary consumer, because it eats the producer.

The small fish is a carnivore, because it feeds from animals like whelks and shrimps.

The shore crab can be a carnivore because it feeds from animals, or a secondary consumer, because it also feeds from the producer and the primary consumer.

The sea anemone can be the predator because it feeds from planktons, or a prey, because some small fish feed from them.

The shrimp can be a predator, because it feeds from some planktons, but it is also a prey, because small fish and crabs feed from them.

The plant planktons are primary consumers because they feed from the producer (green seaweed).

The animal planktons are secondary consumers, because they feed from a primary consumer (plant plankton).

Daily change:

• When the tide is high, some animals can be moved around or even be pushed to other rock pools, but the most important change is that the tide can flush away the green seaweed (the producer) which would affects the whole food chain.
• Humans fishing. We sometimes go fishing and capture lots of animals. This can affect a food chain and the environment. For example, if we fish lots of little fishes, the number of sea anemones would rise, and the number of seagulls might fall.

Seasonal change:

• A seasonal change is temperature. When the temperature is low, the rock pool might freeze, and that means some predators would die from lack of food, and the producer would die of lack of sunlight.
• When it’s summer, the temperature is really high, which means the heat might evaporate some of the water, which would reduce some animals’ space to swim around, and some animals would get stuck in rocks and could die.

The prey (whelk): Has adapted to the Rock Pool conditions because it has a shell and two claws that protects it from its’ predator. They have ten legs, and the two at the back are larger and wider, which helps them swim faster and if needed, to escape from predators.

The predator (seagull): Has also adapted to the rock pool conditions, because it has a thin and sharp pike so it’s easier to eat little fishes. Their eyesight is really good, which makes them easy to spot a prey. Also they have wide wings, that help them to approach faster to their prey.

Animals adapt to the conditions they’re living on. They change to feel more comfortable in the environment they live in.

Fishes and whelks are suited to living in a rock pool because there are minerals to nourish them. There is quick and easy food for them to eat. They are also not too big, and the rock pools are actually kind of small, which suits them perfectly. Fishes can breathe underwater, and they don’t have to rise to the surface once in awhile to survive. Whelks have their protection towards the predators.

In the Rock Pool food web, we can identify that the green seaweed is the producer. Whelks, shore crabs, sea anemone and shrimps are the preys, and the maximum predator is the seagull, but other predator can be the sea anemone too.

The energy we have in our bodies will eventually move on to another organism, no matter if they’re predators or even bacteria.

The food we eat (some) was once a living organism, and we consume their energies.

If we eat an animal that has fed with other living organism, we will consume the organism’s energies, that once were eaten by the animal.

The point is that by feeding with living organisms, we might are as well consuming the energies from a whole food chain/web.

The arrows on a food chains show where the energy is being transferred.

For example: A seagull eats a crab, the crab ate a whelk, but that whelk once fed from a seaweed, and we’re eating the seagull. That means we end up consuming the energy of a food chain/web.