BIO 240 Disruption of a Marine Food Web Worksheet

Disruption of a Marine Food Web Worksheet:

• Examine the graphs in the Lab Book, and describe any trends you observe among kelp, purple sea urchin, and sea otter populations.
• What happened to all three populations when catastrophe struck the sea otters? Which populations were wiped out, and in what order?
• Why do you think the removal of the otters caused the other two populations to crash as well?
• Examine the graphs in the Lab Book. What happened to the populations’ growth patterns when 100 individuals of each species were reintroduced to the habitat?
• What would have happened if you had only reintroduced the kelp and the urchin? Explain.
• What if you had only reintroduced five individuals of each species? Would that have worked to restore the populations? Explain your hypothesis.
• Describe the results of the simulation. Was your hypothesis supported?