The Great Lakes ecosystem in the U. S. contains various types of habitats: aquatic, forest, marsh,
wetland, and dune communities. These communities allow for more than 3,500 species of plants and
animals to inhabit the lakes basin. The many varieties of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and fish
make the Great Lakes basin a unique and complicated ecosystem. The picture above shows one
complex food web you might find within the Great Lakes. Students in biology class used a computer
simulation to determine what factors effect the stability of a food web as well as the biodiversity of the
area. Their research question was:
How does food web complexity affect the biodiversity of an ecosystem?
Student groups were able to manipulate one variable in the food web. One student group greatly
increased the number of sea lampreys in their simulation. Sea lampreys are not native to the Great Lakes,
but rather the Atlantic Ocean. Sea lampreys entered the Great Lakes system in the 1800s through
manmade locks and shipping canals. They are aggressive predators that have a strong advantage over
their native fish prey.
Answer the research question and hypothesize about the results of the addition of this invasive species.