A system of food chains that are linked with one another. In a food web a particular organism may feed at more than one trophic level. For example, in a pond food web a freshwater mussel may feed directly on green algae, in which case it is a primary consumer. However, it can also feed on protozoa, which are themselves primary consumers, in which case the mussel is the secondary consumer. A food web does not usually include the decomposers, but these organisms are very important in the flow of energy through a food web (see energy flow).
A series of interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem. A small change in the number of species in a food web can have consequences both for community structure and ecosystem processes (Emmerson et al. (2005) Glob. Change Biol. 11, 3).
Food web
- motorboating
- motor cell
- motorcycle
- motor gasoline
- motor generator
- motor neuron
- Motorola
- motor protein
- motor unit
- Mottelson, Benjamin Roy
- Mott insulator
- mottles
- mottling
- Mott, Sir Nevill Francis
- Mott transition
- motu
- Motuan
- Mo Tzu (5th)
- mould
- mouldic porosity
- moulin
- moulting
- Moulton, Forest Ray
- mound-builders
- mount