Food Webs and Food Chains Producers Perform photosynthesis

Food Webs and Food Chains

Producers • Perform photosynthesis! This allows them to prodcue their own food • Producers get their energy directly from the sun

Herbivores • • Eat only plants. Primary Consumers They consumer producers. They get the energy stored within the plant which the plant obtained through sunlight

Omnivore • Eats both plants and animals • They consume primary consumers and producers • Often 2 nd or 3 rd level consumers • The get their energy from the producer or consumer they consume.

Carnivore • • Eats only meat 2 nd level and 3 rd level consumers Some apex predators They obtain their energy from the consumer they consume, who got their energy from the producer they consumed who got their energy from the sun.

What’s a Decomposer? • They break down the waste of dead organisms. They get their energy this way • They release nutrients (like carbon and nitrogen) from the dead organisms back into the environment • Examples: Worms, fungi, bacteria

Energy • Plants obtain energy directly from sun • Consumers obtain energy by consuming other consumers and producers. They get a small portion of the energy that the plant produced thus indirectly getting their energy from the sun. • Energy is absorbed at each trophic level and some energy is lost as heat