Food Web Habitat Disruption

Name:

Date:

Australian ecosystem food web illustration

🌿 Part 1: Understanding Habitat Disruption

1. What is habitat loss?

When animals move to new areas

When natural environments are destroyed or changed by human activities

When plants grow too quickly

When the weather changes

2. Which of these are examples of habitat loss in Australia? (Select all that apply)

Clearing eucalyptus forests for farming

Building roads through rainforests

Animals hibernating in winter

Mining operations removing vegetation

3. When a producer (plant) is removed from a food web, what happens to the primary consumers (herbivores)?

Their population increases

Their population decreases or they must find new food sources

Nothing changes

They become carnivores

4. Complete the sentence: Invasive species like cane toads and European rabbits disrupt Australian food webs because they __________________ with native species for resources.

Answer: _______________

🦘 Part 2: Australian Case Study Analysis

5. Imagine a Queensland rainforest food web with the following organisms: fig trees → insects → small birds → pythons. If deforestation removes 70% of the fig trees, explain what would happen to each level of this food web.

6. List three ways that koalas are affected when eucalyptus forests are cleared for development.

7. Why are food webs important to ecosystems? Give two reasons.

🌱 Part 3: Solutions and Action

8. Draw a simple food web showing how habitat loss affects energy flow. Include at least 4 organisms and show what happens when one habitat is destroyed.

9. Suggest three actions that people could take to reduce the impacts of habitat loss on Australian food webs.

10. Extension Challenge: Research and name one threatened Australian species. Explain how habitat loss has affected its position in the food web and what conservation efforts are helping.