FOOD WEB

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does food web mean? 

• FOOD WEB (noun)
  The noun FOOD WEB has 1 sense:

1. (ecology) a community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

  Familiarity information: FOOD WEB used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FOOD WEB (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(ecology) a community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

food cycle; food web

Hypernyms ("food web" is a kind of...):

organic phenomenon ((biology) a natural phenomenon involving living plants and animals)

Meronyms (parts of "food web"):

food chain ((ecology) a community of organisms where each member is eaten in turn by another member)

Domain category:

bionomics; ecology; environmental science (the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment)

 Context examples 

"If coccolithophores are changing its essential properties, they could be influencing which species grow in food webs as far away as the equator or even in the Northern Hemisphere."

(Study reveals changing patterns in globally important algae, National Science Foundation)

This is important because sharks are top predators that keep the marine ecosystem in check, helping to sustain the food web that supports millions of people worldwide who rely on seafood sustenance.

(New way to save endangered sharks – and our seafood, SciDev.Net)

This function may modulate the number of microbes in the water, promote cycling of energy through a reef's food web, or provide stabilizing effects to the ecosystem.

(Bacteria living near coral reefs change in synchrony across distances, National Science Foundation)

At the base of the ocean food web, phytoplankton are projected to decline due to higher surface temperatures near the equator.

(Pacific island fish migrating to cooler seas, SciDev.Net)

This study shows that our current carbon dioxide emission rates are influencing not only the chemistry of the Southern Ocean but its food web structure as well, says Simone Metz, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Ocean Sciences.

(Marine organisms in Southern Ocean will face shallower zone for life, National Science Foundation)

These findings are very important for our understanding of oceanic food webs because the variety and turnover rate of the plankton communities mean that larger organisms which feed on the plankton will come into contact with different sets of microbes that could contain pathogens and harmful microorganisms.

(Study by UGR and MIT reveals microbial plankton live in complex communities, University of Granada)

The change, which could happen over a period as short as one year in some areas, could significantly impact marine food webs and lead to cascading changes across ocean ecosystems, including disruptions of fisheries.

(Marine organisms in Southern Ocean will face shallower zone for life, National Science Foundation)