Temperate Coniferous Forest Food Web

Picture
 Cycle Through Complete Food Chain and a Look at the Different Trophic Levels

Sun -> (first trophic level/ producers)western hemlock, western cedar, amabilis, mountain hemlock, yellow cedar, algaes, sea cucumber, seaweed, sedge, lichen, phytoplankton,arbutus, sword fern, skunk cabbage, salmonberry, devils club, re huckleberry, old man's bear, other brush and trees -> (second trophic level/ primary consumers)insects, black tailed deer,fish(salmon, trout, etc.), mountain goat, moose, blue grouse, woodland caribou, snowshoe hare,elk, more herbivores -> (third or fourth trophic level depending on if they eat secondary consumers as well as primary/secondary or tertiary consumer)grizzly bear, black bear, cougar, lynx, red fox, marten, mink->(die) detrivores and decomposers such as earth worms, maggots, black flies, and fungi-> Plants reabsorb the broken down material left in the soil from the decomposers and detrivores.
Some Common Food Chains in Pacific Ranges
Sun - > phytoplankton - > zooplankton - > salmon - > wolf
Sun - > western hemlock - > deer - > cougar
Sun - > lichen -> woodland caribou - > bear

Important Facts

  - in food chains number of animals is restricted by biomass levels in lower trophic levels, lots of biomass in Pacific Ranges,lots of animals, also restricted by number of animals in higher trophic levels that could eat them, ex. in Pacific Ranges - > low biomass level of zooplankton, lower number of salmon, larger number of bears, even lower number of salmon
  - animals of same trophic level can be interchanged in most food chains (often share the same foods)
  - intraspecific competition(competition for food between same species) happens often in cougars and lynx populations in Pacific Ranges
  - interspecific(competition for food between different species on the same trophic level) often happens between grizzly bears, wolvers, black bears, cougars, etc.
  - if many plants (producers) are grown closely together like some of the bottom of the forests in Pacific Ranges, more pests are attracted to that area, thus more animals that prey on the pests
  - as people affect this region, food chains change because the number of animals within them are always changing
  - as energy is absorbed through each link in the food chain it is decreased a certain amount, so the last level of the food chain (tertiary consumers), need to eat more to get more energy, unlike primary consumers who get most of the energy that is still left over from the sun that was passed to the plant.  ex. in Pacific Ranges - > Sun(100%) ~ lichen (2% original energy) ~ woodland caribou (0.2%) ~ bear (0.02%)
  - if something harmful enters a food chain, ex. acid rain like in Pacific Ranges, it affects the whole food chain/web