What are ecologists trying to figure out by using food webs?
1 Answer
Changes to ecosystems can be detected from changes in the regional food web.
Explanation:
We may have a lot to learn about the complete cycle of food webs just for basic scientific understanding. But, one of the ways our current understanding of food webs can be used is in looking for signs of ecosystem changes due to pollution, habitat change, or environmental conditions.
Oftentimes a significant change is noticeable earlier in lower stages of a food web. Understanding the food web better can help us to prepare or mitigate against changes before they severely impact higher animal and human life.
The American Chemical Society weekly magazine "Chemical and Engineering News" recently ran a special article on this.
Publicly available here:
http://pubsdc3.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cen-09546-cover1
https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i46/meet-the-sentinels.html
