Food Chains and Food Webs

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Food Chain and Food Web Background Vocabulary 1. Predator - an animal that hunts another animal for food Ex: When a tiger eats an antelope, the tiger is a predator.

2. Prey - an animal that is hunted by another animal for food Ex: Fish are prey for the grizzly bear.

3. Decomposer - an organism that feeds on dead plants or animals Ex: worms, bacteria, mushrooms

Example: What is a food chain? A food chain is a sequence of organisms in an ecosystem in which each species is the food of the next member of the chain Example:

Important facts about food chains In a food chain each organism obtains energy from the one at the level below it. Plants are called producers because they create their own food through photosynthesis3 Animals are consumers because they cannot create their own food, they must eat plants or other animals to get the energy that they need.

Primary Producers are “organisms capable of producing their own food” through photosynthesis (light energy) are eaten by primary consumers (herbivores) Examples of primary producers include algae, phytoplankton, and large plants.

Four types of consumers Herbivores: animals that eat only plants Carnivores: animals that eat only other animals Omnivores: animals that eat animals and plants Detritivores: animals that eat dead materials and organic wastes

Other Ways to Classify Consumers Primary Consumers: Herbivores Secondary Consumers: Carnivores that eat herbivores Tertiary Consumers: Carnivores that eat other carnivores

Examples of Primary Consumers Muskrat (eats mostly Cattails) http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/graphics/muskrat1.jpg http://www.advancedwildlifecontrolllc.com/images/muskrat.jpg

Primary Consumers in Marshes Wood Duck eats seeds like those of the Swamp Marsh Mallow and Blue Flag Iris http://dsf.chesco.org/ccparks/lib/ccparks/wood_duck_pair.jpg

Primary Consumers in Marshes Glassy-winged Toothpick Grasshopper – eats leaves of plants like cattail and pickerelweed http://bugguide.net/node/view/41662

Examples of Secondary Consumers Black Rat Snake eats eggs of animals like wood duck http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/tate/Terms.htm

Secondary Consumers Swamp Sparrow eats seeds but also insects like the toothpick grasshopper http://www.jeaniron.ca/2007/SwampSparrow6645.jpg

Example of Tertiary Consumers Eat other animals in marsh including snake and sparrow Osprey www.montereybay.com www.audubon.org

Another Example of an Omnivore Raccoons eat seeds, fruits, insects, worms, fish, and frogs… and pretty much anything else they can get their paws on! http://abouttitusville.com/BobPaty/Animals/images/Racoon.jpg

Detritivore (di-trite-i-vore) Worms are common detritivores in many ecosystems including marshes

What is a food web? A food web is “an interlocking or overlapping pattern of food chains”

Food Webs In the wild, animals may eat more than one thing, so they belong to more than one food chain. To get the food they need, small herbivores may eat lots of different plants, and carnivores may eat many different animals.

Breaking the Chain Organisms living in a habitat depend on each other. If one part of a food chain dies out or is greatly reduced, the consumers have to find alternative food, move away, or starve. This then affects more consumers in the same way.

Copy this Food Energy Pyramid diagram into your notes