Background
Background
Print version of "Bay and Pond Food Webs": PDF • Word
A food web shows the complex relationships between plants and animals: energy flows from producers (plants and algae that produce their own food) to consumers (organisms that eat plants or animals) to decomposers (organisms that digest the waste and dead bodies of plants and animals) and back to producers. Bay and pond food webs extend out of the water when land animals, including humans, eat food from the pond or the Bay. A key difference between the two environments is the fact that the Bay is a saltwater habitat while a pond contains fresh water. The plants and animals that live in each habitat are adapted to living in water with a certain level of salinity. The Chesapeake Bay may be a great distance from many schools in Virginia, but by studying its food web and then visiting a local pond, students will likely feel closer to the Bay.
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