The Aquatic Food Web FREEING THE ELWHA Algal Blooms The North Pacific Turns Green FREEING THE ELWHA The Marine Food Web Algae produce food from photosynthesis Orca feed on salmon andor seals ID: 686435
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Marine-Derived Nutrients
The Aquatic Food Web
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Algal Blooms
The North Pacific Turns Green
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The Marine Food Web
Algae produce food from photosynthesis
Orca feed on salmon and/or seals
Seals feed on small fish and salmon
Small forage fish feed on plankton
Juvenile salmon feed on plankton
Zooplankton feed on algae and smaller plankton
Adult Salmon feed on small fish
Juvenile salmon can be prey for adults
Anchovies are common schooling fish
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Trophic Levels
Producers
10,000 energy units - Phytoplankton
1000 energy units – zooplankton and tiny filter-feeders
100 energy units – small fish and filter-predators like jellyfish
10 energy units – large fish and other predators (squid,
salmon, seals
,
tuna, etc
)
1 energy unit – sharks, eagles, killer
whales, marlins,
and other large predators
Primary
Consumers
Secondary
Consumers
Tertiary
Consumers
4
th
level
Consumers
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Biomagnification
Producers
10 chemical
units – zooplankton and tiny filter-feeders
100
chemical
units – small fish and filter-predators like jellyfish
1000 chemical units
– large fish and other predators (squid,
salmon, seals
,
tuna, etc
)
Primary
Consumers
Secondary
Consumers
Tertiary
Consumers
4
th
level Consumers
1 unit – Phytoplankton and algae
10,000 chemical units–
sharks, eagles, killer
whales, marlins,
and other large predators
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Decomposition of Salmon Carcasses
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Adult salmon return from sea
Aquatic insects feed on algae and bacteria
Nutrients used by algae and bacteria on rocks
Juvenile salmon feed on aquatic insects
Juvenile salmon head to sea
Salmon Carcass
Nutrients enter water
Movement of Marine-Derived Nutrients Across Generations
It is estimated that up 95% of the food consumed by a salmon fry may have originated from the salmon carcasses of its “parents”.
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Adult salmon return from sea
Fry eaten by predators
Adults deposit eggs in gravel
Eggs eaten by predators
Alevin eaten by predators
Alevin hatch from eggs
Fry feed on aquatic insects
Smolts head to sea
Movement of Marine-Derived Nutrients in the Food Chain
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This project was made possible in part by a grant from
Washington’s National Park Fund.
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