Black Sea food chain: some features

Have to eat to provide their ownfull-fledged existence, all inhabitants of our planet. It can be organic and inorganic food: various kinds of minerals, gases, plants, animal bodies and their products of vital activity. And the transition of nutrients and energy from one organism to another is usually called a food chain. But these sequences can be very different in different habitats.

On land and in water

To build the Black Sea food chain,It is necessary to understand what organisms can be its links. Another condition is the residence of these creatures in this habitat, no matter what kingdoms, according to classification, they are.

Some living creatures of nature eatexclusively inorganic food (they are called producers) and take energy for their existence directly from the environment, using gases and minerals. To such producers can be attributed various types of algae and microorganisms, which abound in the aquatic environment. They start the Black Sea food chain, being the first of the links.

Next in the sequence are consumers of the first and second order, who, in turn, feed on producers and all kinds of livestock.

Specificity of the supply chain of this pond

The Black Sea food chain has its own characteristics,the main of which is that below a certain level (150-200 meters) there is almost a dead zone, too saturated with hydrogen sulfide, to serve as a normal habitat for organisms. In fact, it is inhabited by sulfur bacteria and some species of algae. And life is mostly concentrated close to the surface, in the shallow coastal zone and on the shoals.

Chain feeding the Black Sea and the coast

The main source of organic matter in this environmentThe habitat is microscopic algae - phytoplankton. In turn, they serve as food for zooplankton - small crustaceans, larvae, fish fry. Zooplankton feed on larger animals: fish, jellyfish, crabs. Dolphins stand on the very top, eating the previous participants in the chain. And in the coastal zone the end link is the species of birds that feed on fish. These are seagulls, cormorants, petrels, dives.

Examples

The Black Sea food chain may look like this.

• Phytoplankton - zooplankton - fish - dolphin.
• The simplest species of algae - small crustaceans - fish - birds.

Phytoplankton is widely represented in the water arealess than 600 species, there are 167 species of fish, although the Black Sea fauna is poorer than the Mediterranean. Thus, the Black Sea food chain is as complex as terrestrial ecosystems.