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Class Level and Curriculum Links
Senior Primary Students
SESE Science:
Strand: Living Things
Strand Unit: Plant and Animal Life
* Identify the inter-relationships and interdependence between
plants and animals found in a habitat.
Junior Certificate Science
Leaving Certificate Biology:
1.5.6 Organism Role in Energy Transfer
Interdependence between plants and animals on the bog (including bog food webs)
(A) Food
Examples of food chains for a bogland habitat are:
1. Ling Heather --> Red Grouse --> Fox
2. Plant material --> Mayfly --> Frog --> Heron
3. Dead plant and animal material --> Ant --> Ground Beetle
--> Skylark --> Kestrel
4. Plankton --> Frog Tadpole --> Dragonfly Nymph
5. Plant debris --> Midge Larvae --> Water Boatman -->
Frog --> Fox
Food Webs
A series of food chains put together make a food web. A food
web gives a much better idea of feeding relationships in a habitat
than does a simple food chain. Two examples of food webs are
provided below from bogs. The first from a bog and the second
from a bog pool. On each can be seen what feeds on what. They
are not complete and show just a little of the complexity of
the feeding relationships.
Bog Pool Food Web
This food web does not include decomposers which break down litter
and material releasing nutrient to the soil.
Bogland Food Web
This food web does not include decomposers which break down litter
and material releasing nutrient to the soil.
(B) Other Examples of Interdependence
Bog plants and animals also depend on each other for shelter
and support. Here are some examples:
1. The silk cocoon of the Emperor Moth is secreted onto Heather
systems, away from the damp surface of the bog.
2. Some lichens grow epiphytically on the stems of older Heather
bushes.
3. Hares build nests out of the hummocks on the bog for shelter
and viewing.
4. Birds such as the Skylark or Meadow Pipit build nests that
are hidden in the larger hummocks on the bog.
5. Feather Moss only grows in the shade of Ling Heather and other
bog plants.
6. Spiders use bog plants to support their webs.
