13 In most cases, animals have a variety of prey items. This means that within a community, there will often be a network of interactions between the organisms found there. In the marsh example from above, there are a variety of insects chewing on the marsh plants. There are also a variety of predators eating the insects. Those predators are eaten by other predators, thus creating a complicated food web. Today in lab, you will create a food web with the other students at your lab bench. Each lab bench will choose one of the following ecosystems: marsh, desert, temperate woodland, or prairie. As a group, you will compile a profile of the plants and animals found in each ecosys- tem, including information on predators of each species. Marsh: The plant species include sedges, cattails, reeds, and water lilies. The arthropod species include gnats, flies, crickets, and mosquitoes. The upper level predator species include frogs, snakes, hawks, and rats. The decomposers include fungal and bacterial species. Desert: The plant species include grass, saguaro cactus, yucca, and creosote (large shrub). The arthropod species include moths, bees, ticks, and grasshoppers. The upper level predator spe- cies include toads, snakes, hawks, and coyotes. The decomposers include fungal and bacterial species. Temperate woodland: The plant species include grass, daffodils, azalea (small shrub) and ma- ple trees. The arthropod species include mosquitoes, butterflies, crickets, and ticks. The upper level predator species include snakes, hawks, coyotes, and bears. The decomposers include fungal and bacterial species. Prairie: The plant species include grass, daisies, sunflowers, and lupines. The arthropod spe- cies include ticks, grasshoppers, butterflies, and bees. The upper level predator species include rats, coyotes, hawks, and badgers. The decomposers include fungal and bacterial species. What would happen if one of the plant species went extinct? What would happen if one of the insect species went extinct? What would happen if one of the upper level predator species went extinct? What would happen if the decomposers went extinct? How many species in your food web would be impacted by the change in abundance of just one species? 180 EXERCISE 13 Replay