Algae Role In Food Chain

A more complex marine food web might look like the one to the right.

Algae role in food chain. A simple marine food chain might look like the one to the left. Algae s role in the food chain is to be the producer. In a freshwater aquatic ecosystem like a pond the organisms in the food chain include algae small animals insects and their larvae small fish big fish and a fish eating bird or animal figure 8 4. Despite the visual complexity of.

They are grown for animal and aquaculture feeds human foods biochemicals and. And the copepods are the primary consumers. For example grass produces its own food from sunlight. Every living thing from one celled algae to giant blue whales needs food to survive each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem.

The herring are the secondary consumers. A rabbit eats the grass. The phytoplankton are the producers. Algae form organic food molecules from carbon dioxide and water through the process of photosynthesis in which they capture energy from sunlight.

Algae have emerged in recent years as a popular source of omega 3 fatty acids for vegetarians who cannot get long chain epa and dha from other vegetarian sources such as flaxseed oil which only contains the short chain alpha linolenic acid ala. Similar to land plants algae are at the base of the food chain and given that plants are virtually absent from the oceans the existence of nearly all marine life including whales seals fishes turtles shrimps lobsters clams octopuses sea stars and worms ultimately depends upon. Fish oil contains the omega 3 fatty acids but the original source is algae microalgae in particular which are eaten by marine life such as copepods and are passed up the food chain. Herbivores plant eaters come next in the chain.

Algae algae ecological and commercial importance. The salmon is the top consumer. Click here to see. Algae that photosynthesize needs the sunlight as their source of energy.

A food chain always begins with producers. Here we consider what algae are their diversity in terms of evolutionary origin size shape and life cycles and their role in the natural environment and in human affairs. Positive aspects of algae are generally less newsworthy they are the basis of marine food webs supporting fisheries and charismatic marine megafauna from albatrosses to whales as well as consuming carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They are consumed by carnivores flesh eaters.

About 70 species of algae are used for food food additives animal feed fertilizers and biochemicals. Fitting algae into the food web note to teachers.