Problem:
Hello everyone, I hope all is well. In Indiana, a common food chain you might find starts with corn plants → field mice → snakes → hawks. Corn provides energy for small animals like mice, which are then eaten by snakes, and the snakes become prey for hawks. This is a basic example, but in reality, each of these organisms has multiple food sources, making the ecosystem more like a web than a straight chain. It's interesting because it shows how energy moves through the ecosystem, but also how interconnected everything really is. If an invasive species like the European starling enters the ecosystem, it can cause problems. These birds compete with native species for food and nesting sites, which can reduce the number of native birds and affect predators that rely on them. Over time, this can create a ripple effect that impacts multiple levels of the food web. For example, snakes and hawks may have fewer prey available, which can affect their populations and overall ecosystem balance (Purdue Global Academic Success Center Science Center, 2023). Being part of a food web instead of just a food chain is really beneficial. Organisms have multiple food sources, which makes them more resilient if one source disappears. It also keeps the ecosystem stable because energy can flow through different paths, helping populations recover when disruptions occur. Food webs show that even small changes can have big effects, which makes them really fascinating to study. Need Assignment Help?