Build a Food Web

A food web shows how the energy from food flows through an ecosystem. A food chain is a specific path within the food web. For example, a food chain may include a hunter, who captured a fox, who ate an Arctic hare, who ate some Arctic willow. There may be other food chains within the food web.

In this activity, you will try to describe valid food chains in an Arctic food web by filling in the blanks with the names of the actors listed on this page. Remember that the Arctic hare is always one of the actors.

Within each level, you can select and combine the actors in different configurations. The number of combinations that are possible is indicated for each level. (We provide blank chains for up to four combinations). Check your chains against the answers provided.

Level One

(7 possible combinations)

Level Two

(14 possible combinations)

Level Three

(10 possible combinations)

Level Four

(8 possible combinations)

Level Five

(2 possible combinations)

Actors

Inuk hunter (Homo sapiens)
Traditionally, the Inuit hunted the Arctic hare for its warm, soft, albeit fragile, fur and for its meat. The hare is still eaten today, but mostly to supplement the diet and not as a main source of nourishment. If the hunt for other types of food is poor, then hunters will turn to the Arctic hare.

Arctic wolf (Canis lupus arctos)
The Arctic wolf is a subspecies of the grey wolf, but it has a white coat. It is one of the Arctic hare's predators, and probably the one that has the most success with adult hares. Even the pups can catch an Arctic hare.

Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus)
The Arctic fox is a small, Arctic-dwelling canid. Like the Arctic hare, it is white during the winter. Despite the fact that it is smaller than the Arctic hare, it will not hesitate to attack adult hares, although usually without much success. The leverets, however, are often easy prey for hungry foxes.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)
The Snowy Owl is a large, diurnal bird of prey that lives in the Arctic regions of the world. In Canada, it nests north of the tree line. It preys upon the young of the Arctic hare.

Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus)
The Arctic hare lives in the Canadian tundra from western Newfoundland and Labrador to the Mackenzie River Delta in the Northwest Territories and north to the tip of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut. As adults, they have few enemies besides the wolf. The young, however, are prey for Gyrfalcons, Snowy Owls, Arctic foxes and ermine.

Arctic willow (Salix arctica)
While we have little information on the Arctic hare's diet, we do know that it feeds on several types of flowers and plants. Its main source of food is the Arctic willow. It feeds on all parts of the shrub and can be quite destructive, breaking twigs and uprooting the plant.

Purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia)
In the late spring and early summer, the purple saxifrage flower is one of the Arctic hare's favourite sources of food. It moves from plant to plant, devouring all the flowers in its path.

Fleas
Fleas are parasites that feed on the blood of their hosts. They live at the expense of their victims without killing them, but their presence can be torturous. Inuit used to say that Arctic hare-flea bites were very painful. They knew this from wearing hare skins that still harboured living fleas.