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In Biology / Middle School | 2014-04-12

A chemical spill has just killed off all the algae in a part of the open ocean. How will this affect the food webs in that area?

Asked by hduncan2000

Answer (3)

well algae is a main source of food for many herbivores in the ocean . the herbivores would have no food causing them to die off which would led to the carnivores to die off as well . the food web would become unstable

Answered by hotstuff789 | 2024-06-10

The killing of all the **algae **in a part of the open ocean leads to scarcity of food in the ecosystem . Due to this, the food web becomes **unstable **and a lack of **biodiversity **is seen in it.
What is a Food web?
A food web may be defined as the interconnection of a number of food chains with each other in order to form a web-like pattern. One organism can hold more than one position. The flow of energy is very difficult to calculate. It is a series of **branching **chains instead of a straight line.
Algae is a type of **producer **in the aquatic ecosystem which holds energy for the rest of the organisms in the same habitat . From algae, herbivores consume direct energy which is transferred to carnivores . But when algae are died off, due to lack of food herbivores are eliminated. And as a result of this, **carnivores **are found to be absent .
Therefore, the killing of all the **algae **in a part of the open ocean leads to scarcity of food in the ecosystem . Due to this, the food web becomes **unstable **and a lack of **biodiversity **is seen in it.
To learn more about Food webs , refer to the link:
https://brainly.com/question/2179
#SPJ2

Answered by shivjimishraVT | 2024-06-16

The chemical spill that kills all the algae disrupts the food web by removing the primary producers, leading to a decline in herbivores and subsequently carnivores. This causes instability in the ecosystem and decreases biodiversity. Overall, the health of the marine environment is greatly compromised.
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Answered by shivjimishraVT | 2024-12-23