Bering Sea Food Web
Marine
Bering Sea — between Alaska and Russia
Description
The Bering Sea continental shelf supports one of the world's most productive marine food webs, including the largest walleye pollock fishery on Earth. Sea ice extent governs the timing and magnitude of spring phytoplankton blooms that fuel the entire ecosystem. Northern fur seals, walruses, and millions of seabirds depend on this productivity.
Trophic Pyramid
Level 5
Decomposers
Benthic bacteria
King crab scavengers
Amphipods
3 species
Level 4
Tertiary Consumers
Steller sea lion
Orca
Sperm whale
3 species
Level 3
Secondary Consumers
Pacific cod
Northern fur seal
Thick-billed murre
3 species
Level 2
Primary Consumers
Walleye pollock
Copepods
Euphausiids
3 species
Level 1
Producers
Ice-edge diatoms
Phytoplankton
Kelp forests
3 species
Apex Predators
Tertiary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers
Key Interactions
- Walleye pollock is the single most important prey species for marine mammals and seabirds
- Sea ice retreat shifts phytoplankton bloom timing, mismatching predator-prey phenology
- Steller sea lion population decline may be linked to competition with pollock fisheries
- Millions of seabirds nest on Bering Sea islands and forage on the continental shelf