Discover: Forest Food Web

Food webs show how plants and animals are connected in many ways to help them all survive. A food web is an interconnected system of food chains. It describes an ecosystem.

The Sun provides energy for trees to produce leaves, roots, and seeds.

What do tent caterpillars and moose have in common? They are both consumers that eat producers, trees. Tent caterpillars use trees as food. Because they are social and travel in large groups, they can strip a tree of all its leaves rather quickly. Amazingly, this does not usually harm the tree; the leaves just grow back when the caterpillars are gone. The caterpillars also use the trees for transportation by laying strands of silk between branches and walking on them like a tightrope!

Moose also use trees as food. They are fond of new shoots of willow and birch, which are an excellent source of food in the wintertime.

Wolves and brown bears hunt moose, but they rarely attack one that is full-grown. However, baby moose are very vulnerable, and the forest provides excellent places for baby and mother to hide.

Animals in an ecosystem are all connected! Like a spider's web, if one part is removed, it can affect the whole web.