Functional Feeding Groups: Scrapers

Scrapers feed primarily on periphyton growing on surfaces of rocks and other substrate. Scrapers, just as the name suggests, scrape the algae and associated material from the surface of rocks and organic materials, literally grazing the material from the rocks. Scrapers typically have mouthparts with special adaptations for grazing from rocks. The scraper blade is flat […]

Food Webs & Functional Feeding Groups

Since the late 1970s, insect groups in streams have been classified into Functional Feeding Groups rather than the standard trophic levels. This food web scheme was adopted because many insects in streams eat across several trophic levels making the trophic level classification system not very useful in describing these food webs. The Functional Feeding Group […]