Procedure
Part A:
Ecology & Ecosystems

 • Answer questions in Part A of Lab 8 Lab Report.

Part B:
Trophic structures

 • Review the slides below to see how to arrange organisms into trophic levels. Use the black arrow to navigate to the next slide.
 • Use the information provided about each of the four ecosystems given to create and label trophic structures for each ecosystem.
 • Once you have created the trophic structures you will take a picture and upload it to the appropriate place in Lab 8 Lab Report.
NOTE: These slides are here to make sure you set these up correctly - use them!

Image reads Best way to place organisms in trophic levels 1. Find your producers and place them at the bottom of the triangle provided. Label this level producers. 2. Find anything that eats ONLY the producers you have placed in the triangle already and place them above your producers. Labels these 1’ consumers. 3. Find anything that eats organisms in the level you just created (note they may also consume organisms in the level below that and place them above the 1’ consumers). Label them 2’ consumers. 4. Continue this way until there are no organisms left. • NOTE – you may have anywhere from 3-6 trophic levels – you don’t know before you start!
Image reads: Example 1. Find your producers and place them at the bottom of the triangle provided. Label this level producers. Listed are: Flower - make their own food. Grasshopper – weeds. Mouse – weed, flower and tree. Owl – snake, rabbit, mice & rat. Rabbit – weed and flower. Rat – Mouse. Snake – grasshopper, rabbit and mouse. Tree – makes its own food. Weed – makes its own food.
Image reads: 1. Find your producers and place them at the bottom of the triangle provided. Label this level producers. Below is a triangle. Inside the base of the triangle is written “Flower, Tree, Weed”. Outside the triangle this level is labeled Producers. A line has been drawn above the three words inside the triangle.
Image reads: Example 2. Find anything that eats ONLY the producers you have placed in the triangle already and place them above your producers. Labels these 1’ consumers. Listed are: Flower - make their own food. Grasshopper – weeds. Mouse – weed, flower and tree. Owl – snake, rabbit, mice & rat. Rabbit – weed and flower. Rat – Mouse. Snake – grasshopper, rabbit and mouse. Tree – makes its own food. Weed – makes its own food. The organisms Flower, Tree and Weed have been crossed out.
Image reads: 2. Find anything that eats ONLY the producers you have placed in the triangle already and place them above your producers. Labels these 1’ consumers. Below is a triangle. Inside the base of the triangle is written “Flower, Tree, Weed”. Outside the triangle this level is labeled Producers. A line has been drawn above the three words inside the triangle. Above the line is written “Grasshopper, Rabbit, Mouse”. To the right of the triangle this level has been labeled Primary consumers. A line has been drawn above this level.
Image reads: Example 3. Find anything that eats organisms in the level you just created (note they may also consume organisms in the level below that and place them above the 1’ consumers). Label them 2’ consumers. Listed are: Flower - make their own food. Grasshopper – weeds. Mouse – weed, flower and tree. Owl – snake, rabbit, mice & rat. Rabbit – weed and flower. Rat – Mouse. Snake – grasshopper, rabbit and mouse. Tree – makes its own food. Weed – makes its own food. T The organisms Flower, Tree Weed Grasshopper, and Mouse have been crossed out.
Image reads: 3. Find anything that eats organisms in the level you just created (note they may also consume organisms in the level below that and place them above the 1’ consumers). Label them 2’ consumers. Below is a triangle. Inside the base of the triangle is written “Flower, Tree, Weed”. Outside the triangle this level is labeled Producers. A line has been drawn above the three words inside the triangle. Above the line is written “Grasshopper, Rabbit, Mouse”. To the right of the triangle this level has been labeled Primary consumers. A line has been drawn above this level. Above this line is written “Snake, Rat”. To the right of the triangle this level has been labeled Secondary consumers. A line has been drawn above this level.
Image reads: Example 4. Continue this way until there are no organisms left. Listed are: Flower - make their own food. Grasshopper – weeds. Mouse – weed, flower and tree. Owl – snake, rabbit, mice & rat. Rabbit – weed and flower. Rat – Mouse. Snake – grasshopper, rabbit and mouse. Tree – makes its own food. Weed – makes its own food. All organisms except for Owl have been crossed off.
Image reads: 4. Continue this way until there are no organisms left. Below is a triangle. Inside the base of the triangle is written “Flower, Tree, Weed”. Outside the triangle this level is labeled Producers. A line has been drawn above the three words inside the triangle. Above the line is written “Grasshopper, Rabbit, Mouse”. To the right of the triangle this level has been labeled Primary consumers. A line has been drawn above this level. Above this line is written “Snake, Rat”. To the right of the triangle this level has been labeled Secondary consumers. A line has been drawn above this level. Above the line, and at the top of the triangle is written Owl. To the right of the triangle this level has been labeled Tertiary consumers.
Image reads: Example when there are no organisms left you are done. All organisms from the original list have now been crossed off.
Image reads: NOTE – you may have anywhere from 3 to 6 trophic levels – you don’t know before you start.

 • Now that you have seen an example of how to set a Trophic structure up you are going to create 4 of your own using the information above (do not copy the Trophic structure from the example on the slides)
 •  Below is a list of organisms found in four different ecosystems.
 • For each ecosystem use the list to create and label a Trophic structure.
 • Use the above slides as a guide
 • Don't forget to use every organism and to label each trophic level.
 • Once you have drawn out your trophic structures take a picture and upload it to the appropriate place in Lab 8 Lab Report.

Ecosystem 1

Image reads Desert Ecosystem - Cacti – make their own food - Coyote eats – large lizards, rattle snakes & kangaroo rat - Grass – make their own food - Grasshopper eats – Grass & cacti - Hawk eat – large lizards, rattle snakes & kangaroo rats - Large lizard eats – grasshoppers & small lizards - Small lizards eat- cacti - Rattle snake eats – kangaroo rat - Scorpion eats- cacti - Kangaroo rat – eats cacti

Ecosystem 2

Image reads African Grassland Ecosystem - Cheetahs eats – Zebra & gazelle - Elephants eats – Grass & Trees - Gazelle eats - Shrubs - Giraffe eats – grass & trees - Grass- makes its own food - Hyenas eats – Zebras, gazelles & giraffe - Lions eats- Hyena, Cheetah, zebra, giraffe & gazelle - Shrubs – make their own food - Trees – make their own food - Zebras eat – grass, shrubs & trees .

Ecosystem 3

Image reads Rainforest Ecosystem - Bamboo – makes its own food - Banana tree – makes its own food - Coconut tree – makes its own food - Fruit bats eats – Banana tree& coconut tree - Iguana eats - Grasshoppers - Grasshopper eats – Banana tree & coconut tree - Jaguar eats – Grasshoppers, monkeys, macaws, red eyed tree frog & vampire bat - Macaws eat – Banana trees, orchids & seeds - Monkeys – Bamboo, Banana tress & coconut trees - Orchids – make their own food - Python eats – Fruit bats & red eyed tree frog - Red-eyed tree frog eats -Grasshoppers - Seeds – make their own food - Vampire bat eats - Grasshoppers .

Ecosystem 4

Image reads American Grassland Ecosystem - Bobcat eats – Ringtail, Western whiptail lizards, Jack rabbits & Pine marten - Coyote eats – Ringtail, Western whiptail lizards, Mule deer & Jack rabbits - Douglas’s squirrel eats – Plants, fruit, nuts & seeds - Flowers – make their own food - Jack rabbits eat – Pacific tree frog, Edith’s Checkerspot butterfly & plants - Mountain lion eats – Ringtail, Western whiptail lizards, Jack rabbits, Mule deer, pine marten & bobcats - Nuts – make their own food - Pika – Plants, flowers, nuts, seeds & fruit - Pine marten eats – Pika, Pacific tree frog & Douglas’s squirrel - Plants – make their own food - Raven – Pika, Pacific tree frog, Edith’s Checkerspot butterfly & Douglas’s squirrel - Red breasted nuthatch eats – Nuts & seeds - Ringtail eats- Pika, Pacific tree frog & Douglas’s squirrel - Seeds – make their own food - Mule deer eats - Flowers, plants, nuts, seeds & fruit - Western whiptail lizard eats – red breasted nuthatches, pika, Pacific tree fog & Edith’s Checkerspot butterfly - Pacific Tree frog eats – flowers, fruit & plants - Edith’s Checkerspot butterfly eats – fruit, flowers & plants - Fruits – make their own food

Part C:
Food Webs

 • Review the slides to see how to arrange organisms into a food web. Use the black arrow to navigate to the next slide.
 • Use the information provided about each of the four ecosystems you created trophic structures for to create  food webs for each of the four ecosystems.
 • Once you have created the food webs you will take a picture and upload it to the appropriate place in Lab 8 Lab Report.
NOTE: These slides are here to make sure you set these up correctly - use them!

Image reads Best way to place organisms in a food web 1. Write all your producers at the bottom of the page. 2. Write the 1’ consumers above that. 3. Look at what each primary consumer eats and draw and arrow from the producer to the primary consumer (depicting the flow of energy). 4. Write the 2’ consumers over the 1’ consumers and draw a line from every 1’ consumer (and possibly some producers) to the 2’ consumer. 5. Continue like this until all organisms are in your food web.
Image reads Image reads: Using the same list we used to create our trophic structure Listed are: Flower - make their own food. Grasshopper – weeds. Mouse – weed, flower and tree. Owl – snake, rabbit, mice & rat. Rabbit – weed and flower. Rat – Mouse. Snake – grasshopper, rabbit and mouse. Tree – makes its own food. Weed – makes its own food.
Image reads 1. Write all your producers at the bottom of the page. 2. Write the 1’ consumers above that. Image shows the words flowers, trees and weeds written on the bottom and the words Grasshopper Rabbit and mouse written above them.
Image reads: 3. Look at what each primary consumer eats and draw and arrow from the producer to the primary consumer (depicting the flow of energy). Image shows three arrows from weed, one points to grasshopper, one points to rabbit and one points to mouse. There is one arrow pointing from Trees to Mouse. There are two arrows pointing from Flower; one points rabbit and one points to mouse.
Image reads: 4. Write the 2’ consumers over the 1’ consumers and draw a line from every 1’ consumer (and possibly some producers) to the 2’ consumer. Image shows The same asset of arrows as previously shown (three arrows from weed, one points to grasshopper, one points to rabbit and one points to mouse. There is one arrow pointing from Trees to Mouse. There are two arrows pointing from Flower; one points rabbit and one points to mouse). Above this is written Snake and rat.
Image reads: 5. Continue like this until all organisms are in your food web. Image shows that there are now 3 arrows pointing at the snake: one from the grasshopper, one from the rabbit and one from the mouse. There is one arrow pointing to the rat from the mouse.
Image reads: 5. Continue like this until all organisms are in your food web. Image shows the same set of arrows as before and now the word Owl is written on top.
Image reads: 5. Continue like this until all organisms are in your food web. Image shows the same set of arrows as before and now there are four arrows pointing towards the word Owl: one from snake, one from Rabbit, one from rate and one from mouse.

 • Using the list of organisms for four ecosystems you used to make the trophic structures, create food webs for each ecosystem.
 • Use the above slides as a guide.
 • Don't forget to use every organism in the food web.
 • Make sure you use ARROWS and the arrows are pointing the correct way.
 • Once you have drawn out your food webs take a picture and upload it to the appropriate place in Lab 8 Lab Report.

After you have submitted your Lab Report Via Google please go to Blackboard, select the Lecture & Lab Materials folder for this week and then select "Lab 8 Lab Report: Post Statement here when completed". Select "Write Submission" and type in "I have submitted my Lab Report Via Google docs"
This will allow me to enter a grade that you can see on Blackboard in your grade book for each lab.

Non-majors College Biology Lab Manual © 2021 by Marie McGovern Ph.D. is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0