Exploring Ecosystems: Coastal Food Webs | California Academy of Sciences

Enter a kelp forest and explore the various threads that connect species together in food webs.

How do changes in the ecosystem effect the community? Enter an underwater forest of kelp and explore the various threads that connect species together that help maintain diversity and balance in food webs.

In addition to showcasing live footage from a unique ecosystem, each of the three videos in the Exploring Ecosystems series features an opportunity for students to actively participate in a problem-solving scenario based on an ongoing research project of Academy scientist Peter Roopnarine.

As you watch the video, be prepared to pause at key points to participate fully! Explore food webs through the kelp forest featuring sea otters (Enhydra lutris), sea urchins (Echinoidea), sea stars (Asteroidea), sunflower seastars (Pycnopodia helianthoides), abalone (Haliotidae), and other marine animals.

The Coastal Food Web video investigates the following questions:

How do you predict the effects of a change in the community’s populations on the community as a whole?

How will a change in an ecosystem affect energy flow, nutrient cycling, population growth, or community structure?

How will loss of an organism from a food chain or web affect flow of energy?

Check for Understanding

Describe two concrete examples of community interactions, being sure to describe the relationships between species.

Key Scientific Terms

community: two or more different species occupying the same geographical area and interacting in some way

ecosystem: the community of different species in a particular geographic area and all of their interactions with each other and the physical environment; ecosystems are also called ecological networks

herbivore: an animal that eats plants; also called a primary consumer

population: all the individuals of a particular species that live in a specific geographic area; a species may be made up of one or more populations

predator: an organism that hunts, catches, kills, and eats other animals

prey: an organism that is caught, killed and eaten by a predator
species: a distinct type of organism

Connections to High School Standards

AP Biology

LO 4.13: The student is able to predict the effects of a change in the community’s populations on the community.

(1) Interpreting graphs and other quantitative data that represent community and ecosystem interactions.

(2) Reading curves that represent community interactions (e.g., predator-prey) and using them to infer relationships between species.

(1) Working with ecological models and using them to predict how a change in an ecosystem will affect energy flow, nutrient cycling, population growth, or community structure.

(2) Predicting how loss of an organism from a food chain or web will affect flow of energy.

Next Generation Science Standards

DCI: LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
Crosscutting Concepts: Energy and Matter; Stability and Change; Systems and System Models
Science and Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking; Using Models

Related Reading

In this Science News article, explore what killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Could it have been the health of ecosystems from 13 million to 2 million years prior to the impact?

Ecosystem services in the form of food, water, shelter, and even medicines are key to our lives, but furthermore, studies have determined that diseases emerge from damaged environments. In this article learn how our human health depends on a healthy environment.

More from the Exploring Ecosystems Series

In this video series, students participate in problem-solving exercises as they explore how species interact with one another and their environment. While the coastal food web video covered kelp forests, the below tutorials discuss biodiversity and mutualistic relationships, respectively.

Trek through a tropical rainforest and explore the incredible diversity of species that call it home.

Dive beneath the ocean waves and explore the unique and diverse relationships found on a coral reef.

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Connect with us!

[vari]

The animation was very realistic and phenomenal! And the graphics and visuals assisted with understanding of the topic quite a bit; great work.

[benboudreax]

My teacher has me watching over 20 videos like this, and write detailed notes for all of them. Taking almost 2.5 hours now, when my science class should just take 45 minutes

[jbelcid]

thank you so much this makes science so much more easier, and i love how the animations look so real!

[dfdewgergahrhe]

for everyone that needs it:
Elements of the Oceanic ecosystem include animals (sea otters, fish, sharks, etc.), plants (Kelp and sea urchins), and microscopic algae.

I will reply for other questions and answers yall need i hate school too its fine

[payalr]

My son needed this for school, thank you.

[nobody-iwzk]

To any and all teachers reading this. Please ease up on your students. We're surviving a global pandemic, and a lot of us would like some time to ourselves. This pandemic has messed a whole ton of us mentally though a lot of us would not like to admit it. What a lot of us would want is to not have so much stress knowing we have assignments due but have no motivation or energy to do them. We are all so tired. Please understand we are only human and were children. We have lives outside of school, and we know you do too! Notice not every little subject needs an assignments, classwork, and homework. We understand you want to make sure we're learning as much as possible especially if we are virtual. I ask of you to please take my words into consideration.

[withinheart]

Had to help my grandson with his work during lockdown. His work included creating a diagram of the food chain. Your video helped immensely. Thank you.

[DookieStain]

The otters are just vibing on the surface

[andrewcentanni]

This video does a phenomenal job of summing up food webs, and was a perfect supplement to my instruction in my biology classes. Thank you!

[ristal]

i had to watch this for online school and i loved it <3

[falcon_forest]

I'm using this video for a science project, this is perfect :D

[sarahnelson]

As a Teacher - can I get the graphics of the food web? As a still? I think middle school will need more processing time.

[Qnixxs]

Hey high school students forced to take notes

[paulbartlett]

Based on published work by: Estes, J., & Duggins, D. (1995). Sea Otters and Kelp Forests in Alaska: Generality and Variation in a Community Ecological Paradigm. Ecological Monographs, 65(1), 75-100. and republished as a chapter in: Gunderson, L.H., Allen, C.R. & Holling, C.S., eds. (2009). Foundations of Ecological Resilience. Washington D.C.: Island Press.

[jasmineandreacabasis]

It's helping me out with my science test

[heyimfangs]

The spiny purple sea urchin is a _ in this ecosystem, because it eats the kelp.

a.) producer


b. tertiary consumer


c. primary consumer


d. secondary consumer

yall this one of my questions can yall help? ASAP

[whatabouttheearth]

This is also why if eco systems get destroyed than agricultural gets destroyed, if agricultural gets destroyed humans have to go back to hunter-gatherer lifestyles, and if those eco systems get destroyed, we go extinct. It's all connected.

[funnytiktokcreations]

Did you guys know about candis. She died

[climate-change-briefing]

Great job BUT .... is that sea floor greatly depleted (I don't know the area)... also you MUST please include diatoms and plankton in the food chain, without them none of this exists. Diatoms also provide 20% of the worlds CO2 to O conversion and ironically its burning the ancient diatom accretions of oil and gas that have led to their and our impending demise. Seventy percent of our oil and gas is of diatom origin. The irony is tragic. Diatoms are miscoscopic and to paraphrase trump "Who would have tought something so small was so important" ....

[bboreofam]

I hate school videos they are soooo boring