Disruption of Food Webs

Organisms in an ecosystem rely on each other for food and survival. But what would happen if we remove one or more organisms from a food web?

There are many ways organisms can be removed from a food web. For example:

  • Hunting
  • Habitat loss
  • Disease to the population

These factors can disrupt the balance of the food web and cause a ripple effect throughout the ecosystem. Let’s look at an example of a food web:

The removal of a single organism, such as a tree, from a food web can have large effects on the entire ecosystem. Without the tree as a food source, the rabbit population would decline as they would have no food choices, which could lead to starvation and extinction.

As a result, the wild cats would have to find alternate prey, such as mice. This could lead to competition with other predators like owls and snakes for the remaining prey.

This competition could potentially result in the decline or extinction of the wild cat population, which would then impact the lion population, as the lions consume wild cats. This chain reaction demonstrates how removing one organism from a food web can disrupt the balance of the entire ecosystem.

Food security

Food security is the state of having enough food available to support a specific population. The food we consume relies heavily on the availability of plants. This includes the meat we eat, as our cattle eat plants to grow and survive.

Crops that are pollinated by insects provide a large amount of our food supply. This pollination can come from:

  • The wind – For example plants like wheat, rice and corn
  • Animals – All types of fruit and vegetables are pollinated by insects and other animals

So, if the population of pollinating insects decrease, this can reduce our food supply.