The Wild Buffalo

Over 200 species of birds, 29 amphibians, over 500 invertabrates, and more than 50 mammals calls this park home. They live in the river, oak-hickory forests, ponds, creeks, caves, abandoned historic sites, box canyons, cedar glades, and open fields.

A food chain demonstrates what each living thing eats and how nutrients are cycled between plants and animals. A food chain begins with a plant absorbing the sun's energy, water, and nutrients from the ground and ends with an animal. Several food chains within the same ecosystem or set of related ecosystems interconnect to form a food web.

 

Forming a Food Web Activity

Your job is to create multiple food chains. Before you know it you will have a food web! Starting with the sun, draw an arrow to a plant. Plants get their energy from the sun. Then draw an arrow from the plant to an animal that might eat it. Next, decide what might eat that animal. Some predators, animals that feed on other animals, may eat several different prey, forming a complex web. Print this page out and see how many food chains you can create.

Example: The sun provides sunlight to the algae to grow, algae is eaten by the caddisfly, they inturn are eaten by the smallmouth bass. Does that food chain end there?

 

The sun, water, plants and animals are all a part of the food chain at Buffalo National River.