For example: If the Ospreys were to eat eels that are sick because of polluted water, the birds would eat the poison too by eating the sick eel. If the ospreys eat too many sick eels the ospreys would become weak and would cause the osprey to be in danger of becoming extinct or force the osprey to leave the area to find other prey.
An example of food chain:
Think about the answers to the following questions:
What would happen to the frog community if there was no plants for the
grasshopper to eat?
How would the frog community affect the snakes and hawks in the area?
1.) The grasshopper population has declined over the past five years due
to shortages of plants.
Which animal would be greatly impacted by the decline of
grasshoppers?
a.) Otters
b.) Ospreys
c.) crayfish
d.) Dragonfly
2.) The river otters left the Spring Creek area many years ago. What do
you think happened back then to make
the river otters leave the Spring Creek area?
a.) The river otters did not like the taste of the
water in the Spring Creek area.
b.) The winters in the Spring Creek area were too
cold for them to stay.
c.) There was not enough species of fish, cray fish
and mussels for them to fed on.
d.) There were too many people making too much noise
in the Spring Creek area.
Food Chains: Prey and Predators Homepage