Secondary consumers up and on from eating the sheepshead minnow is the otter. Therefore, the food web depends on a constant supply of energy from. Number the images below from 1 low 5 high to put them in order of the food chain in the salt marsh and in the ocean. Many plants and animals depend upon the salt marsh habitat for survival, including two endangered species. The food web should be a true web with multiple branches. Because of their dual marineterrestrial nature, salt marshes provide an amazing testbed to ask how does the structure of food webs modify the consequences of changes in diversity for multiple ecosystem functions. In groups, they observe and identify the various types of animals found in the marsh. Also important for the food web is the cycle of matter and nutrients.
They create a web demonstrating the interconnections of all parts of the marsh. Construct food chains that could be found in ponds, marshes, oceans. In this exercise, you will draw arrows in the direction of energy flow within a food web. The herring gull concludes the food web of the florida salt marsh. An estuary is where rivers freshwater meet the sea salt water. Students must place the organism in the correct food chain and in the correct order. After making the food web, students answer questions about food webs and must exhibit understanding of new vocabulary e. Use the following organisms to fill in the food chain pyramid levels periwinkle snails, river otters, diatoms, diamondback terrapins, fiddler crabs and blue crabs then answer the question. Students will use a diagram of a food web to answer a series of questions. Cut out the organisms you need from the following page to create 2 salt marsh food chains. The virtual field trip is an interactive presentation covering the salt marsh region of south carolina, including information about its physical features, the species of plants and animals living within it, ecological issues, and environmental threats to the area. Q salt marshes provide food and nesting sites for many species of migratory birds. Salt marsh activity booklet sc sea grant consortium. In this activity, students take on the role of plants, animals, and physical aspects of the salt marsh.
Complete a food web you learned in the previous activity that energy from the sun is accumulated by primary producers and then flows up trophic levels to each of the consumers in a food chain. Plants the salt found within the salt marshes is what determines the plants and animals found. The salt marsh is a major part of the ecology of the ocean because it produces much of the food of the ocean organisms. A smaller area of salt marsh occurs along the indian river lagoon and in the vicinity north of jacksonville, florida. Worksheet for food label activity here are the main meals from the food cards with the corresponding nutrition labels. Food chains and food webs activity printable and digital.
This lesson plan is designed to complement the salt marsh food chain lesson plan. The path of food energy from one living thing to another. Specializing in sandwiches, wraps, salads, and readytoeat entrees. They also feed many invertebrates, such as snails and crabs, which are then eaten by fish and birds. Students will sort 24 organisms into 6 different food chains. Pictures represent the organisms that make up the food web, and their feeding relationships are typically shown with arrows. Please note that these are example values the values will change according to the ingredients used and the cooking techniques. How does salt marsh food web structure translate to ecosystem functions and services. This flow of energy through the food web is important for the functioning of the marsh.
Impacts of nutrients and hurricanes on salt marsh food webs. Identify and label each relationshipin the food web as one of the following. In this lesson, students will learn about how food webs are constructed and trophic levels in an ecological community. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. The three basic types of organisms in the ace basin food chain are producers. Printed food chain cards, food chain visuals, food web recording sheet for each student. Discussion and observations of an ecosystem closer to home or school. Our mission is to provide our customers value without compromising values. Salt marsh atlantic ocean plankton 1 menhaden 2 striped bass 3 osprey 4 a food web is several food chains combined and overlapping each other. Salt marsh teachers guide 2008 manatee county water atlas. Raccoon, opossum, mink, muskrat, beaver, red fox, gray fox, and otter live in and around wetlands feeding on small mammals, aquatic life, birds and their eggs. In the section below, draw lines and arrows connecting the prey to its predator. Identify and label each organism as use all that apply. A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salty or brackish water, dominated by dense stands of halophytic salt tolerant plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs.
In a food chain, energy is lost in each step of the chain in two forms. California usa and baja california mexico salt marshes for over. Untangling salt marsh food webs hhmi biointeractive. After the discussion of the food web, additional questions will be asked, including natural selection, limiting factors, adaptation, and how the food web would be affected if organisms were removed. Salinity in marsh can vary from values as high as 70% in dry isolated areas to as low as 5% in isolated areas with heavy rains. All living organisms plants and animals must eat some type of food for survival. Salt marshes are composed of a variety of different species, depending on location, including grasses, sedges, and rushes. The daily rise and fall of the ocean over the land. Floridas salt marshes are mainly located along the margins of estuaries or the mouth of a river where its tide meets the stream flow, found in north florida. Even if mom did not know why she insisted, both are good precautions against parasites.
The salt marsh is an ecosystem that is found along the coast near the waters of the estuary. This lesson explores food webs using organisms from the south carolina salt marsh. Impacts of nutrients and hurricanes on salt marsh food webs often bordering agricultural or urbanized land, coastal salt marsh ecosystems are vulnerable to anthropogenic nutrient inputs that may affect primary productivity of the dominant cordgrass, spartina alterniflora. A living thing that makes its own food, like plants. After cutting out pictures of the organisms, they create a food chain placing them in the proper order. The georgia salt marshes are the second largest in the us.
In a salt marsh in georgia, the quantity of solar radiation reaching the ground during the summer is 7,000,000calm2day. Use the following organisms to fill in the food chain pyramid levels periwinkle snails, river. Fish and wildlife service fws developed a recovery plan for the salt marsh harvest mouse in. Plants make their own food through a process called photosynthesis. Food chains are formed as one organism eats another. Dedicated to setting the industry standards for excellence in safety, quality, consistency and service.
Food webs and parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem uc santa. Coastal habitats in the classroom activities and handouts. Students read about the organisms and have to put together their own food web from the information provided. The whitetailed deer is found in the bottom lands, and when necessary it will depend on swamps and marshes to escape predators. Food chains and food webs united states environmental. Algae and marsh plants use the suns energy to make sugars and grow. The water that covers a salt marsh is usually the ocean.
Young salt marsh harvest mice can disperse a considerable distance, but not from fragmented habitat across bare or converted environs. Salt marsh smells are a natural occurence in coastal areas, and provide a clue to understanding its ecology. After categorizing the animals, they create a food web based on the animals role in the. They are involved in breaking down a wide variety of organic materials of plants and animals. Use arrows to show theflow of energy from the organism being eaten to the organism that eats it see forest food web example. The marsh is a really interesting site because of its harsh everchanging environment. Through his experiments, silliman revealed that the growth and abundance of salt marsh plants is actually mainly controlled by herbivores, as in many other terrestrial ecosystems. This salt marsh food web lesson plan is suitable for 9th grade.
Organism description bacteria sagittula stellata bacteria are extremely important in the overall functioning of marine ecosystems. Lesson wetland ecosystems freshwater marshes and swamps. The gross productivity of the producers in the salt marsh mostly microscopic algae is 0. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other. Students explore the variety of salt marsh species and determine their classification in the food chain. Huge numbers of microscopic algae, diatoms and other types of phytoplankton are estuarine producers that juvenile fish depend on for food. Larger plants such as turtle grass, manatee grass, and shoal grass provide food and cover for other consumers e.
Ocean, woodland, salt marsh, arctic, desert, and freshwater pond. At low tide, the water goes back into the ocean, leaving behind soggy, salty, wet land. Seventh graders complete a virtual online salt marsh tour. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. They will then use animals that they identify in wildcam gorongosa to construct food chains and food webs, and study the impacts of disturbances. Give two examples of how plants adapt to a salt marsh ecosystem. Label each organism as a producer, consumer, apex consumer, or decomposer. Pdf food webs and parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem.
These chains link together to create food webs in a habitat. Ninth graders explain interrelationships in salt marsh ecosystems. For this activity you can build a swamp food chain, a saltmarsh. In this ecosystem lesson, 9th graders explain salt marsh populations and how abiotic and biotic factors affect them. The average rate of respiration the respiration requirement is 35% of the gross primary productivity.
These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh. It eats the the sheepshead minnow, the blue crab, and the diamondback turtle. Exploring food webs in a south carolina salt marsh. We have investigated the ecology of larval trematode hostparasite interactions in southern. Salt marsh student worksheet south carolina lesson plans. This talk is from a 2016 holiday lecture series, ecology of rivers and coasts.
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