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ConservationTales ©2018
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SeaTurtleEnergyPyramidby
TomMcConnellwww.conservationtales.com/seaturtles
You’veprobablyreadaboutseaturtlesintheConservationTalesseriesalready.Ifyouhave,youknowthatseaturtleseatfish,squid,shrimp,jellyfishandseagrass.Buthowmuchfooddotheseseaturtlesneed?Basedonthat,wecanalsoaskquestionsabouthowmuchhealthyhabitataseaturtleneeds.Inthisactivity,youwillmakeafoodwebforaseaturtleandestimatetheamountofseagrassneededbyagreenseaturtle.Driving Questions: How much seagrass does a green sea turtle eat in a year? In its lifetime? Objectives:
• I can create a food web of a sea turtle to show how it fits in its ecosystem. • I can estimate the amount of seagrass needed by a single sea turtle in a year. • I can explain why we need to protect large areas of marine habitats in order to protect
sea turtles. FoodWebsAfoodwebisadiagramthatshowsrelationshipsbetweenlivingthingsinanecosystembasedonwhateatsoriseatenbyotherorganisms.Thechartusuallystartswith“producers,”organismsthatusesunlight(likeplants)tomakefood.Thenextlivingthingsinthefoodwebarethosethateatplants,thenanimalsthateatplanteaters,andsoon.Arrowsshowtheflowofenergyandfoodmatter–theygofromtheorganismthatiseatentotheonethateatsit.Itiscalledafoodwebbecausesometimesmorethanoneorganismeatsthesamethingoriseatenbythesameanimal.Thereisasimplefoodwebbelowasanexample.
phytoplankton
zooplankton
sardine
squid
mackerel
dolphin
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ConservationTales ©2018
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GreenSeaTurtlesThegreenseaturtlehasauniquediet.Whentheyareyoung,theyaremostlycarnivorous,eatingsquid,smallfishandjellyfish.Butoncetheyreachmaturity(ataboutage40),theyswitchdietsandbecomecompletelyherbivorous.Fortherestoftheirlives,theyfeedonlyonseagrasses.Nootherseaturtleseatplantsasadults.Thisalsomakesgreenturtlesverydependentongrassbedsasahabitat.Unfortunately,grassbedsareshrinkingordisappearing.Insomeplaces,thismaybeduetowaterpollution,butthisisalsorelatedtotheglobalwarmingofoceans.Asthetemperatureschange,thetypesofplantsthatcanliveinmanydifferentareasischanging.Scientistsareconcernedthatsoontheremaynotbeenoughseagrassbedsforgreenturtlesandotherspecies.Oneofthetasksofprotectinggreenturtlesistodeterminethesizeoftheirhabitatneededtosupporttheseaturtlepopulation.EnergyPyramidsAnotherideayouneedtoconsideriswhatbiologistscallthe“energypyramid.”Thisiswaytoshowhowmuchplantlifeanimalsneedinordertosurvive.Thisusuallyisshowninapyramidshape.Thebottomlayerofthepyramidincludesalltheplants.Thenextrowupincludesherbivores–theanimalsthateatplants.Thethirdlayerisforcarnivores,animalsthateatherbivores.Ifafourthlevelisincluded,thoseanimalseattheanimalsthateatherbivores.Thismodelcanbeusedtounderstandhowbigeachlayerneedstobeinordertosupportthelivingthingshigherupinthefoodweb.Thismodelfollowsthe“10%Rule.”Eachlayercanonlybe10%(1/10th)oftheweightoftheorganismsinthelayerbelowit.Inthismodelshownhere,weseegrass(plants)eatenbymice(herbivore).Themiceareeatenbyhawks(carnivore.)Youcanseethatinordertosupport10poundsofhawks,theneedtobe100poundsofmice.Tosupport100poundsofmice,thereneedstobe1000poundsofgrass.Thissamepatternisseeninallfoodwebsandenergypyramids.
Hawks 10lbs
100lbs
1000lbs
Mice
Grass
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GreenTurtleFoodWebsNowitisyourturntodrawtwofoodwebs–oneforanimmaturegreenturtlethateatsacarnivorousdiet,andanotherforamaturegreenturtlethateatsseagrass.Foreachofthesefoodwebs,writethenamesofthegreenturtle,theorganismsintheanimalsdietdescribedonpage2.Includetheanimalseatenbytheonesseaturtleseat,too.Drawthearrowstoshowtheflowofenergyandfoodmatter.Makesuretocompletebothfoodwebs.FoodWebforImmatureSeaTurtleFoodWebforMatureSeaTurtles
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ConservationTales ©2018
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GreenTurtleEnergyPyramidNowusethetwofoodwebsyoucreatedonpagethreeandfillinthetwoenergypyramidsbelow.Forboth,calculatethewegithoftheplants(orplant-likephytoplankton)neededtosupportasingleseaturtle.(Note:Anadultseaturtleweighsabout400pounds.Useaweightof200lbsfortheimmatureseaturtle.)Remember,eachleveldownthepyramidwillbe10xlargerthantheoneaboveit. EnergyPyramidfor EnergyPyramidforImmatureGreenTurtle MatureGreenTurtle
NoticingPatternsandMakingInferences1. Seagrasseshaveamassofabout20lbsforeverysquaremeterofspace.Basedonthis
amount,howmanysquaremeterswouldaseaturtleneedtofeedontosurviveasanadult?
2. Whichgreenturtle,immatureormature,probablyneedstotravelthefarthesteachyear
tofindenoughfood?
3. Seagrassbedsaredisappearingatanincreasingrate.Whatimpactisthislikelytohaveongreenturtles?
400lbs200lbs
Carnivores
Herbivores
Producers(plant-like)
Herbivores
Producers(plant-like)
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ThinkingDeepera. Seagrassesaredecliningbecauseofdamagefromboattraffic,pollutionfromoilsand
fertilizers,andwarmingoceantemperatures.Dosomeresearchonthingsyoucandothatwouldhelpprotectseagrasshabitats.YoucanusetheConservationTales:SeaTurtlesbookorsearchtheinternetforinformation.Thenwritesomesuggestionsforthingsyoucandoathomethatmighthelpseagrasshabitats.
b. Dosomeresearchtofindoutwhatotherspeciesfeedonorliveinseagrasses.Howdo
youthinkthosespeciesarebeingimpactedbythedeclineofseagrasses?Andhowwilltheactionsyouwroteaboutintheanswerabovehelpthosespecies?