A plague on the pest – rabbit calicivirus disease and biological control

Activity 3

Food webs

Draw a food web for a small area of woodland, showing the feeding relationships between rabbits and other plants and animals that would live in this area. List the effect on each organism of removing rabbits from the food web.

Teachers notes

Encourage students to consider a variety of plant types (eg, trees, shrubs and herbaceous flowering plants, as well as grasses) and to include invertebrate animals, native and feral birds, and mammals. When students list the effects of removing rabbits from the web, encourage them to consider effects several steps along a chain and not just direct predator-prey relationships.

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Posted February 1997.