Ecosystems, populations, food webs Science Misconceptions

Concepts

 

Misconceptions

A change in a food web will only affect animals that prey on it.
An animal that is high on the food web preys on all populations below it.
A change in the prey population has no affect on the predator.
If the size of one population in a food web is changed, all other populations in the web are changed in the same way.
A food web is a food chain
Animals are carnivores if they are big and ferocious. Herbivores are small and timid.
Don't add plants to the web only prey and predator.
See the top of the web as having the most energy. Or energy accumulates at the top.
Populations on the top increase as the organisms below decrease.
Characteristics of a population are created according to the needs of the individual or according to a predetermined grand plan.
Characteristics are passed on by the bigger stronger organisms.
Populations are either in equilibrium or decreasing depending on their position in the web.
The needs and roles of a species are the same as those of similar species.
Species live together in an ecosystem because they have compatible needs and behaviors.
Plants rely on carbon dioxide from animals.
Do not understand that animals energy comes from the sun.
Deserts are dead waste lands where nothing could live or thrive.