Predator Loss and Ecosystem Effects
Quantify energy transfer efficiency through trophic levels (~10% rule); explain trophic cascades: how removing an apex predator triggers a chain of ecosystem changes (sea otters → sea urchin explosion → kelp forest collapse); define 'fishing down the food web'; evaluate evidence for ocean rewilding — shark reintroduction, whale recovery driving nutrient cycling; understand why ecosystem-based fisheries management is needed
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Can your child trace the chain of events that happened to Pacific kelp forests when sea otters were hunted almost to extinction — what domino effect did removing one species set off through the whole ecosystem?
Quantify energy transfer efficiency through trophic levels (~10% rule); explain trophic cascades: how removing an apex predator triggers a chain of ecosystem changes (sea otters → sea urchin explosion → kelp forest collapse); define 'fishing down the food web'; evaluate evidence for ocean rewilding — shark reintroduction, whale recovery driving nutrient cycling; understand why ecosystem-based fisheries management is needed
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“Can your child trace the chain of events that happened to Pacific kelp forests when sea otters were hunted almost to extinction — what domino effect did removing one species set off through the whole ecosystem?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Ocean Life
- Age range
- Ages 12–14