Hu, Wenchengyuan2023-07-032023-07-032023https://hdl.handle.net/1813/113321In freshwater ecosystems, top predators can induce trophic cascades to influence the entire food web. In this study, we tested whether adding top predators into ponds could affect the population of species at lower trophic levels and alter the feeding strategy of the secondary consumers. Specifically, we tested whether the addition of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) to ponds affected the diet composition of sunfish ((pumpkinseed and bluegill; Lepomis gibbosus and Lepomis macrochirus), the dominant secondary consumer in the study ponds. I determined the diet composition of sunfish by analyzing the gastrointestinal tract contents. I found that in the ponds where bass were added, sunfish consumed more macroinvertebrates instead of zooplankton and phytoplankton. Therefore, we found that top predators are able to regulate the food web structure and energy flow through trophic cascades in these study ponds.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationaldissertation or thesis