A food web is a conceptual and graphical representation of trophic interactions within an ecological community, depicting how energy and biomass move through interconnected food chains. Nodes in a food web represent species or trophic groups, while links denote predation, herbivory, or other consumer–resource relationships. Food web analysis quantifies properties such as connectance, trophic levels, modularity, and stability, and is central to understanding ecosystem structure, dynamics, and resilience. It provides a framework for modeling top-down and bottom-up controls, indirect effects (e.g., trophic cascades), and responses of communities to perturbations such as species extinctions, invasions, and environmental change.
We are used to seeing a strict order in nature, with apex predators at the top feeding on those lower down the pecking order. But in video footage from a nature reserve in Italy, we see a red fox turning the tables, attacking ...
Species numbers alone do not fully capture how ecosystems are changing. In a global study, scientists analyzed long-term data from nearly 15,000 marine and freshwater fish communities. They found that fish food webs have ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 19, 2026
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Human activity has lessened the resilience of modern coral reefs by restricting the food-fueled energy flow that moves through the food chains of these critical ecosystems, reports an international team of researchers in ...
Ecology
Feb 11, 2026
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Fish across Britain's seas face ever-smaller meals as warmer seas and commercial fishing squeeze ocean food webs, new research suggests. Research by the University of Essex and the UK Government's Centre for Environment, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 3, 2026
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Cats—unlike humans—are true carnivores: they must eat meat to survive because their bodies can't draw some essential nutrients from plants. By looking at tissues, researchers can get a good understanding of what foods ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 3, 2026
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135
A new study led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), along with international partners, finds that proposed commercial fishing in the deep ocean could have serious consequences for bigeye tuna, one ...
Ecology
Jan 28, 2026
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A new UNSW-led global meta-analysis shows that PFAS concentrations can double at every step up the food chain, leaving top predators—and humans—potentially exposed to higher chemical loads.
Environment
Dec 22, 2025
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Researchers from the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have uncovered how soil food webs promote the transformation and storage of photosynthetic carbon in farmlands. Their results ...
Ecology
Nov 21, 2025
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A new study published in the journal Oikos reveals for the first time the critical role polar bears play as carrion providers for Arctic species. Researchers from University of Manitoba and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2025
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Phytoplankton is an important component of the food-web and is predated by a wide variety of aquatic organisms, such as water fleas, copepods and fish. These microscopic algae also play a crucial role in Earth's climate, ...
Ecology
Oct 13, 2025
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