|
Make a hypothesis (educated guess) about what will happen.
|
|
|
|
|
Show Legend
|
|
Trophic Level:
|
|
|
Producers make their own food. WhyReef's most common producers are plants, which make their food using sunlight.
|
|
|
Herbivores only eat plants (producers).
|
|
|
Lower Omnivores eat plants (producers) and smaller animals.
|
|
|
Upper Omnivores eat plants (producers) and bigger animals.
|
|
|
Lower Carnivores only eat other animals. WhyReef's lower carnivores usually eat smaller animals.
|
|
|
Upper Carnivores only eat other animals. WhyReef's upper carnivores are likely to eat bigger animals.
|
|
|
Corals are the most bizarre creatures on WhyReef! They are so weird, they actually get
their own trophic level. Here's why: They are animals (not plants!), and they are carnivores.
But they have tiny plants in their cells (which they don't eat -- they are NOT herbivores)
that make food for them (which they do eat). Corals are crazy, right?
|
Hide Legend
|
|
A farm company, near the reef, has started using fertilizers that contain the chemicals nitrogen and phosphorous to help their crops grow. Now when they water their crops, the fertilizer mixes with excess water and flows onto the reef. What do you think will happen to the reef?
I hypothesize that
population(s) will decrease.
|
