Humboldt Current Marine Food Web
Marine
South America — Peru and Chile Pacific coast
Description
The Humboldt Current along South America's west coast creates one of the world's most productive marine ecosystems through intense coastal upwelling. Anchoveta form enormous schools that sustain seabird colonies, marine mammals, and the world's largest single-species fishery. El Nino events periodically suppress upwelling, causing catastrophic crashes across all trophic levels.
Trophic Pyramid
Level 5
Decomposers
Marine bacteria
Benthic scavengers
Amphipods
3 species
Level 4
Tertiary Consumers
Orca
Blue whale
Shortfin mako shark
3 species
Level 3
Secondary Consumers
Humboldt penguin
South American sea lion
Peruvian booby
3 species
Level 2
Primary Consumers
Anchoveta
Sardine
Copepods
3 species
Level 1
Producers
Diatom chains
Dinoflagellates
Coastal kelp
3 species
Apex Predators
Tertiary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers
Key Interactions
- Anchoveta schools can stretch for kilometers and are the dominant prey species
- El Nino events collapse upwelling, causing mass starvation of seabirds and marine mammals
- Guano deposits from seabird colonies historically drove Peru's economy
- Overfishing of anchoveta in the 1970s caused a fishery collapse lasting decades