Food Web of the Yangtze River
Food Webs are important in all ecosystems. They help the energy flow throughout the ecosystem, and keeps the wildlife alive.
Now what is a food web specifically? Well before that, there are actually two other things that shows how energy flows throughout an ecosystem. There are Food Chains, and Energy Pyramids. They look different from the Food Web, and function a little differently, but the concept is the same. They all show what the animals of the ecosystem eat, and how energy works in the ecosystem. Going back to what a Food Web is specifically. Food Webs are basically webs that show a bunch of animals that are part of the ecosystem, and show what eats what with arrows. The arrows represent what is eating what, and how the energy is being transferred. For an example: If there were to be an arrow that is pointing a type of fish to the Baiji Dolphin, then it means that the Baiji Dolphin eats the fish to gain its energy, balancing the ecosystem.
How would the Yangtze River be without a Food Web? Really, any ecosystem can't survive without a Food Web. However, the Yangtze River specifically can't live without it because Food Webs are what balances the ecosystem out. Say that if all types of fish, and really any other species were to run out, which are the Primary Consumers for the Yangtze River, then what would those species that rely on that specie eat? It would throw the ecosystem off-balance, and possibly end the ecosystem entirely. And the scary thing is, is that it only takes one specie to go extinct to make an entire ecosystem go off-balance.
How does a Food Web balance out the Yangtze River? Food Webs help the ecosystem stay in balance by making sure what animal eats what. Doing this, the flow of energy from organism to organism is balanced. Also, certain species need to eat either other animals, or plants. They are all important to the ecosystem. If one of the species were to be removed, then the whole Food Web would be out of control.
What is the order in a Food Web?
The primary producer being the most important one in the whole Food Web because it is the base of all energy in the web, is the beginning of the food web. Then, an autotroph, or a producer gains some energy from the Primary Producer. Following that, an herbivore eats the plant, absorbing its energy. Herbivores are then hunted down by Carnivores. Whatever happens next can depend on the animals in a certain ecosystem, but usually, the web "ends" with the Decomposers eating up the dead stuff. Dead stuff of basically anything, like plants, or fish, or foxes, etc. The Decomposers break down the dead stuff to recycle nutrients in the earth, and give plants that are growing the nutrients.
Food Web of the Yangtze River: Food Chain of the Yangtze River: