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Make a hypothesis (educated guess) about what will happen.
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Show Legend
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Trophic Level:
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Producers make their own food. WhyReef's most common producers are plants, which make their food using sunlight.
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Herbivores only eat plants (producers).
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Lower Omnivores eat plants (producers) and smaller animals.
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Upper Omnivores eat plants (producers) and bigger animals.
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Lower Carnivores only eat other animals. WhyReef's lower carnivores usually eat smaller animals.
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Upper Carnivores only eat other animals. WhyReef's upper carnivores are likely to eat bigger animals.
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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?
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Hide Legend
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People want to dive and explore the reef, but they are not following the rules. They are hurting the coral by stepping on and bumping into it. They are also picking up the cool-looking snail shells and other invertebrates to take home with them. What do you think will happen to the reef?
I hypothesize that
population(s) will decrease.
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