Desert Food Web Activity Name: __________________________ 6th Grade PSI Score: _____ / 14 points -----------------------------------------------Food webs are diagrams that show all the feeding interactions in an ecosystem. They help us to see how an ecosystem is organized. They also show how energy flows through an ecosystem. Food webs help us to understand why certain events happen, such as an increase or decrease in a population. They can even help to predict future events. Use the information in the chart below to draw a food web for this desert ecosystem. Organism Badger Bat Coyote Insects Prickly Pear Cactus Pronghorn Raptor Sagebrush Small reptiles Snakes Squirrels/rodents www.njctl.org Prey/Food Snakes, Squirrels, small reptiles Insects Pronghorn, small reptiles, badger Sagebrush, prickly pear cactus __ Sagebrush, prickly pear cactus Small reptiles, snakes, squirrels __ Insects Squirrels Sagebrush, prickly pear cactus 6th Grade PSI Predator Coyote __ __ Bats, small reptiles Pronghorn, insects, squirrels Coyote __ Pronghorn, insects, squirrels Raptors, coyotes, badger Badger, raptor Badger, raptor, snakes Ecosystem Dynamics Desert Food Web www.njctl.org 6th Grade PSI Ecosystem Dynamics Analysis 1. What important group is not shown in this ecosystem’s food web? What role does this group usually play? 2. Using three organisms from your food web, draw a food chain below: 3. Write an example of one organisms that fits each category below: a. Producer: b. Consumer: c. Herbivore: d. Carnivore: 4. Describe what would happen to the insect population if the following events occurred? a. Disease destroys the sagebrush and cactus populations. b. Habitat destruction forces the bats to migrate to a neighboring ecosystem. www.njctl.org 6th Grade PSI Ecosystem Dynamics