Food Webs and Food Chains BACK NEXT

Food Chains Each ecosystem contains organisms that depend on other organisms for survival. A hierarchy of food relationships from simplest to most complex is called a food chain. BACK NEXT

Producers BACK NEXT 2. Nearly all food webs start with a green plant. Green plants are called producers because they produce their own food. An organism that makes it’s own food can be done by using sunlight energy in photosynthesis. BACK NEXT

Consumers BACK NEXT 3. Animals are consumers. Some consume plants to get the energy they need to live. Others consume other animals. Consumer: an organism that feeds on other organisms (plants or animals) because they cannot make their own food. BACK NEXT

Decomposers 4. an organism that breaks down wastes or eats on dead organisms to provide the soil with nutrients. BACK NEXT

Food Chains 5. A food chain consists of 1 producer, 2-3 consumers, and a decomposer in (). They are found in many types of ecosystems: Land - grass-rabbit-fox-bear (mushroom) River - algae-minnow-bass-human (worms) Ocean - plankton-small fish-large fish-shark (worm) BACK NEXT

Herbivores BACK NEXT 6. Animals that eat plants are called Herbivores. Herbivores have evolved to eat plants. They have specialized teeth and stomachs to enable them to get the energy they need from plants. BACK NEXT

Carnivore BACK NEXT 7. Animals that eat animals are called Carnivores. Carnivores have evolved to eat meat. They have specialized teeth and stomachs to enable them to get the energy they need from the bodies of other animals. BACK NEXT

Omnivore 8. Animals that eat plants and meat are called Omnivores. Humans are omnivores. Omnivores have teeth and stomachs that enable them to eat and digest both plants and meat. BACK NEXT

Food Webs 9. Food webs show what eats what in order to gain the energy it needs to live. Food webs use arrows to show what eats what. A food web has many overlapping food chains put together to make an entire ecosystem. Eaten by: Eaten by: BACK NEXT

Land: Notice that the direction the arrow points  The arrow points in the direction of the energy transfer, NOT “what ate what”

Marine

Polar Marine:

Estuary Food Web:

Marine/Land:

Food Webs Interconnected BACK NEXT 10. It is important to realize that food chains and food webs can overlap. When a terrestrial (land-based) food chain overlaps with an aquatic (water-based) food chain, they create a terrestrial-aquatic food web. BACK NEXT