Water Pollution Affecting the Food Chains and Food Webs by Hannah Callison

Food Chains and Food Webs are very fragile and the slightest disruption could spin everything out of control. Water pollution is a growing problem in our environments. Water pollution causes many problems and is very dangerous. For example let’s say a river is contaminated. The fish in the water and other living creatures then become infected with this substance and it may even kill them. If the fish or other living creatures die then that would mean less food for other animals such as birds. Then this could result in the population decrease of this species of bird. Then there would be two population decreases that would just throw off the whole food chain. When the birds die out from feasting on the contaminated fish then the bird’s population could decrease or possibly cease to exist. With a population decrease in the birds, the animals that prey on the birds would have a decrease in their resources which would possibly   weaken their species. This could possibly consequence in the extinction of a species. Another threatening form of water pollution would be if the fish was infected by the contaminate and then when the bird ate it the bacteria or whatever it was would then spread to the bird and either kill it or continue to spread throughout the food chain. This could be very bad for the environment and the ecosystem. Water pollution also affects other food chains and webs not just the system with fish, but if an animal comes to the water’s edge and begins to drink the contaminated water and become very sick or die. This could then cause the same chain reaction and make a lot of animals sick or contaminated. This again would most likely result in fluctuation of the ecosystems flow.  These are a few of the many ways water pollution can affect an environment that is why it is important to keep your rivers , lakes, creeks, ect. Clean in order to protect your ecosystem.