Environmental protection agency is facts salt marsh harvest mouse reithrodontomys raviventris description and ecology status endangered, listed october, 1970. Food chains and food webs united states environmental. How will changing salt levels affect the organisms that live in this ecosystem. Find a food chain from your web with at least 4 organisms.
Wetland webs after an oil spill louisiana sea grant. Field study is a critical component of any environmental education program. Salt marsh student worksheet south carolina lesson plans. In low marsh areas with high tidal flooding, a monoculture of the smooth cordgrass, spartina alterniflora dominate, then heading landwards, zones of the salt hay, spartina patens, black rush, juncus gerardii and the shrub iva frutescens are.
Students will come to sea center texas wetland exhibit and. Identify and label each relationshipin the food web as one of the following. The food web should be a true web with multiple branches. Even if mom did not know why she insisted, both are good precautions against parasites. In this part of the activity, you will complete a food web by modeling the energy flow between organisms. Coastal plain gallery or saltmarsh aviary to begin lesson. Students read about the organisms and have to put together their own food web from the information provided. Specializing in sandwiches, wraps, salads, and readytoeat entrees. Exploring food webs in a south carolina salt marsh. The salt marsh is a significant natural feature of the region down jersey. In the salt marsh, we can find grass beds, oyster reefs, and open mud flats. Discussion and observations of an ecosystem closer to home or school. Theyre a unique ecosystem, and one that serves a wide variety of critical ecosystem services. Coastal habitats in the classroom activities and handouts.
During this handson lesson, students will become marine biologists and try out some of these. A food chain shows us how energy moves through an ecosystem. Salt meadow grass sea lavender what else did you find that is not on this list. Shorebirds such as dowitchers, sandpipers, and blacknecked stilts can often be found during the low tide probing the mud for food. They also read about the carbon cycle and discover how it relates to the food chain. Marine biology or environmental studies classes find out by viewing this presentation.
Simple chains dont give us a good picture of the system as a whole. Terrestrial ecosystems full of grasses, spiders, and insects overlap with marine ecosystems of crabs, snails, fish, and algae. Use your desk as a draft before you glue anything, but once the organisms. The food web shows the energy flow through different organisms in an ecosystem. You are to construct an accurate food web using the organisms given to you and then discuss the position of each in the ecosystem. Salt marshes are composed of a variety of different species, depending on location, including grasses, sedges, and rushes. Salt marsh activity booklet sc sea grant consortium. Read this lesson to find out what a salt marsh is, how theyre formed, and why they smell. A description and activity to show how energy moves throughout the food web. Dec 20, 2011 the virtual field trip is an interactive presentation covering the salt marsh region of south carolina, including information about its physical features, the species of plants and animals living within it, ecological issues, and environmental threats to the area. Building a food chain, you built a food chain and learned how energy flows through trophic levels. Students diagram a wetland food chain identifying producers, consumers, and decomposers, then they use their food chain diagrams to illustrate the fl ow of energy through the carbon cycle. Pdf food webs and parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem. A word search and worksheet involving the food web has also been included for the students.
Food chain assessment worksheet answer key cut out the organisms you need from the following page to create 2 salt marsh food chains. Seventh graders complete a virtual online salt marsh tour. After categorizing the animals, they create a food web based on the animals role in the. If youre near the coast by the ocean, you might be smelling a salt marsh. Food web construction winstonsalemforsyth county schools. Place them in the pyramid with the producer at the bottom and the highest order consumer at the peak. Salt marshes are a fascinating ecosystem where land and sea meet. Food chain web some of the constructed response items cover multiple essential questions.
Where are they located floridas salt marshes are mainly located along the margins of estuaries or the mouth of a river where its tide meets the stream flow, found in north florida. Two of the pages have different options that allow you to differentiate learning. Plants the salt found within the salt marshes is what determines the plants and animals found. Salt marsh plants salt water algae grasshoppers snails sandpiper eats. New energy is not created, so the recycling process is shown. Food webs and parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem kevin d. Focusoverview this activity will introduce the concept of wetland food webs and potential.
Find as many of these plants and animals as you can. Use arrows to show theflow of energy from the organism being eaten to the organism that eats it see forest food web example. Animals and plants that live in a healthy salt marsh reap the benefits of an ecosystem that. The salt marsh harvest mouse is thought to have evolved from the more common western harvest mouse, which it resembles. Organism description bacteria sagittula stellata bacteria are extremely important in the overall functioning of marine ecosystems. Salt and ecosystems case studies worksheet use the ecosystem fact sheets to complete the table below list at least two organisms that live in this ecosystem. The mud contains an abundance of life including aquatic worms, snails, and crabs. As an intertidal habitat, the surface of the salt marsh is under water at high tide and dry at low tide.
The investigation of the salt marsh community is critical to an understanding and appreciation of this unique ecosystem. The type of sediment, plants, and animals can all be specific to their particular habitats. The finished flip book is black and white pdf and has 6 pages and covers topics below. Most communities include various populations of producer organisms which are eaten by any number of consumer populations.
The herring gull concludes the food web of the florida salt marsh. Because of their dual marineterrestrial nature, salt marshes provide an amazing testbed to ask how does the structure of food webs modify the. A smaller area of salt marsh occurs along the indian river lagoon and in the vicinity north of jacksonville, florida. They create a web demonstrating the interconnections of all parts of the marsh. Label each organism as a producer, consumer, apex consumer, or decomposer. Raccoon, opossum, mink, muskrat, beaver, red fox, gray fox, and otter live in and around wetlands feeding on small mammals, aquatic life, birds and their eggs. Lesson wetland ecosystems freshwater marshes and swamps. Wildcam gorongosa student worksheet food webs activity. Once phragmites has invaded, it is sometimes the only plant species left, called a monoculture. Seafood the salt marsh provides a habitat for many of the animals humans eat for food including oysters, crabs, and fish. Building a food web introduction in food webs activity. Students will discover food chains of the swamps and saltmarshes of south carolina. It eats the the sheepshead minnow, the blue crab, and the diamondback turtle. The salt marsh tidal creek ecosystem is a highly productive coastal wetland that occurs between upland areas, such as forests and urban environments, and estuaries, where fresh and salt water mix.
Estimate numbers of organisms for each level their population in that habitat. Other animals found in the salt marsh include many different types of birds. Rainforest food web food chain worksheet ecological pyramid animal worksheets salt marsh preschool colors animal coloring pages biomes free what others are saying coloring pages of wetland animals grassland. Food webs and food chains worksheet 1 look at this food chain. Secondary consumers up and on from eating the sheepshead minnow is the otter.
This lesson explores food webs using organisms from the south carolina salt marsh. They are involved in breaking down a wide variety of organic materials of plants and animals. This is only the tip of the iceberg for linking natural and human influences with salt marsh food web structure. The whitetailed deer is found in the bottom lands, and when necessary it will depend on swamps and marshes to escape predators. Salt marsh food webs coastal waters consortium lumcon. In groups, they observe and identify the various types of animals found in the marsh. Crabs are important to the salt marsh food chain as they not only. In this activity, students take on the role of plants, animals, and physical aspects of the salt marsh.
After the discussion of the food web, additional questions will be asked, including natural selection, limiting factors, adaptation, and how the food web would be affected if organisms were removed. Our mission is to provide our customers value without compromising values. Phragmites australis is an invasive reed that is taking over saltwater marshes of new england, outcompeting other plants that serve as food and homes for marsh animals. After making the food web, students answer questions about food webs and must exhibit understanding of new vocabulary e. Identify and label each organism as use all that apply. Students will discover food chains of the swamps and saltmarshes of. The role of the detrital food web in salt marsh food web dynamics has historically been understudied and the plant and detrital food webs were treated as separate entities, yet these food webs are linked through generalist predators. Circle what you find limpet soft shell clam blue mussel green crab asian shore crab razor clam amphipod. The new england salt marsh is subject to strong tidal influences and shows distinct patterns of zonation. Flood protection salt marsh plants and oyster reefs help stop strong waves that happen during strong storms, such as hurricanes.
Food webs a web food is made up of interconnected food chains. The green crab, for example, is a consumer as well as a decomposer. Untangling salt marsh food webs hhmi biointeractive. In this talk, ecologist brian silliman discusses the discovery that salt marshes are controlled by the topdown forces of consumers. Seafood the salt marsh provides a habitat for many of the animals humans eat for food including oysters, crabs, and. How does salt marsh food web structure translate to ecosystem functions and services.
Parasites were added to an already detailed food web from the carpenteria salt marsh in santa barbara, california. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. A dendritic, or fingerlike, network of tidal creeks. This food chain of the marsh flip book flip book is designed for students in grades 35.