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food web
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A diagram of a temperate forest food web shows energy flow from the sun to an oak tree (producer), then to primary consumers like field mouse, quail, beetle, and squirrel, followed by secondary consumers such as hawk, frog, and raccoon, and tertiary consumers including wolf, red fox, and black bear. Arrows indicate feeding relationships. Detritivores like turkey vulture and crow, and decomposers such as bacteria and fungi, recycle nutrients back into the soil, nutrients, and water. Orange larvae of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) with black spots feeding on green leaves. Juvenile tiger walking through shallow water approaches a wild boar carcass lying partially submerged near grassy banks. A diagram of a generalized aquatic food web shows various marine organisms connected by arrows indicating predator-prey relationships. Top predators like large sharks, smaller sharks, and marlin are at the top, followed by predators such as tuna, squid, lancet fish, and mackerel. Filterers like lantern fish, amphipods, and ocean sunfish occupy the next level, with zooplankton such as shrimp, copepods, and pteropods below them. At the base, phytoplankton including dinoflagellates and diatoms prov Illustration comparing a complex ocean food web, with interconnected feeding relationships among marine animals and plankton, to a simple linear food chain showing energy flow from sun to producers, primary consumers, and up to top predators.

food web: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Karen Sottosanti
    Karen Sottosanti is a writer and editor who works in educational publishing. 

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: PNAS - Food-web structure and network theory: The role of connectance and size. Oct 10, 2026
Add new Web site: The Royal Society Publishing - Proceedings B - Food-web dynamics under climate change. Apr 14, 2026
Add new Web site: American Association for the Advancement of Science - Science - Mediating role of food web structure in linking diversity to multidimensional stability: Evidence from global marine ecosystems. Mar 02, 2026
Add new Web site: PBS - Science Trek - Food Web. Oct 22, 2025
Add new Web site: DigitalCommons at University of Nebraska - Lincoln - Food Webs and Food Sovereignty: Research Agenda for Sustainability (PDF). Sep 13, 2025
Add new Web site: Loyola Marymount University Pressbooks - Concepts in Biology - Ecosystems, Food Chains, and Food Webs. Jul 31, 2025
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - A Mechanism of Food‐Web Complexity Emergence Under Multiple Environmental Drivers. Jun 21, 2025
Add new Web site: CORE - Food webs: reconciling the structure and function of biodiversity (PDF). Mar 28, 2025
Add new Web site: Nature - Using food-web theory to conserve ecosystems. Dec 05, 2024
Add new Web site: PNAS - Food-web structure and network theory: The role of connectance and size. Oct 25, 2024
Add new Web site: Academia - Food webs. Aug 28, 2024
Add new Web site: Frontiers - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution - Plant communities and food webs. Jul 19, 2024
Add new Web site: New York Sea Grant - Food Web Background. May 29, 2024
Add new Web site: NOAA - Aquatic food webs. Apr 05, 2024
Add new Web site: Khan Academy - Food chains and food webs. Apr 04, 2024
Add new Web site: North Carolina State University Libraries - Applied Ecology - Food Webs. Dec 23, 2023
Add new Web site: Maryland Sea Grant - Food Web. Oct 27, 2023
Add new Web site: Biology LibreTexts - Food Chains and Food Webs. Mar 27, 2023
Add new Web site: Biology LibreTexts - Food Webs. Feb 18, 2023
Added food web diagram. Jan 11, 2023
New article added. Dec 09, 2022
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