Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual Reality:

Ocean Food Web Module Worksheet #1

Research an Organism

Organism

Size

What it eats

Predators

Interesting

Information

NOAA’s “Find a Species” web site (www.fisheries.noaa.gov/find-species) is

one good source of information about marine organisms. However, feel free

to use information from any reliable source to fill in the table.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual Reality:

Ocean Food Web Module Worksheet #2

Gulf of Maine: Cod & Herring Biomass Data

Species Biomass

(metric tons)

Trophic Level*

Atlantic Cod

Atlantic Herring

* For trophic level, use relative terms such as “high”, “medium”, “low”, “highest” and “lowest”.

Get biomass data for cod and herring from the graphs within the VES-V simulation software!

Virtual “Dive” Location: Northeast region, Gulf of Maine, sand flats habitat, using the default “Baseline”

scenario dataset

Prey/Predator Biomass Ratio: ___________________

(herring biomass divided by cod biomass)

Hypotheses: Biomass vs. Trophic Level

Fill in the blank in the following statement with “more”, “less” or “the same” to state your

hypothesis about the relationship between biomass and trophic level:

A population of organisms with a higher trophic level usually has _______________ biomass

compared to a population with a lower trophic level.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual Reality:

Ocean Food Web Module Worksheet #3

Hypothesis: Biomass in Monterey Bay

Next to the scale below, write each of the four words “sardine”, “orca”, “sea lion” and “blue whale” at

places along the scale that correspond to the relative amount of biomass you expect for each

organism. Use your knowledge of the relationship between trophic level and biomass or between

organism size and biomass to guide you.

Low Biomass

High Biomass

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual Reality:

Ocean Food Web Module Worksheet #4

Monterey Bay Biomass Data

Species Biomass in 2044

(metric tons)

Prey/Predator

Biomass Ratio

Trophic Level*

Blue Whale

Orca

California Sea

Lion

Sardine

* For trophic level, use relative terms such as “high”, “medium”, “low”, “highest” and

“lowest”.

Virtual “Dive” Location:

● West Coast region

● Monterey Bay

● kelp forest habitat

● use the default “Baseline” scenario dataset

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual Reality:

Ocean Food Web Module Worksheet #5

Predator and Prey Biomass Relationships

This worksheet uses data collected previously for worksheets #2 and #4. You do not need to collect

any new data to complete this worksheet. Write in your estimates based on the previously collected

data.

If the biomass of herring in the Gulf of Maine increased by 100,000 tons (from 700,000 up to

800,000), what would you expect to happen to the biomass of cod? Record your estimate in the table

below.

Organism Starting Biomass

(metric tons)

New Biomass

(metric tons)

Cod 70,000

Herring 700,000 800,000

If the biomass of sardines along the West Coast dropped by 500,000 tons (from 1 million to 500

thousand), what would you expect to happen to the biomass of sea lions? What would you expect to

happen to the biomass of orcas? Record your estimates in the table below.

Organism Starting Biomass

(metric tons)

New Biomass

(metric tons)

Orca 1,000

Sea Lion 70,000

Sardine 1,000,000 500,000

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual Reality:

Ocean Food Web Module Worksheet #6

Mackerel and Predator Biomass Data

● Use data from the coral reef habitat in the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico region. Record

the biomass of Spanish mackerel in 1995 and 2012 in the table below.

● Use the StockAssessments scenario and dataset. Switch to the StockAssessments scenario

from the Baseline scenario (which loads by default) by clicking the green “SCN” (scenario)

folder icon in the upper left in VES-V.

● Next, based on your knowledge of the relationship between the biomass of a prey species

(such as mackerel) and a predator species, estimate the biomass of the predator in 2012. The

biomass of the predator in 1995 was around 15,000 metric tons.

● Finally, record the actual biomass of the predator in 2012 and compare it to your estimate.

1995 biomass

(metric tons)

2012 biomass

(metric tons)

Biomass Ratio

2012/1995

Predator, data 15,000

Predator,

estimate

15,000

Mackerel

What is the predator species? _________________________

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration