Producers, Consumers and Decomposers All organisms in an ecosystem need energy to live. Organisms can be grouped by how they get energy. Organisms in an ecosystem are grouped as producers, consumers, or decomposers.

You get your energy from the food you eat. ALL the food energy on Earth comes from the sun. Without the sun everything on Earth would go hungry and die in time.

Living Things Living things are divided into 3 main groups: Producers Consumers Decomposers Each group has a certain role, or part to play which is their niche. By the end of this lesson you will find out what group you belong to.

Producers Plants use the energy in sunlight to make, or PRODUCE their own food, so they are called PRODUCERS. Animals including people cannot produce their own food. You can make yourself a PB&J. However, the bread is coming from a bag and the peanut butter is coming from a jar.

Example of Producers

Consumers Consumer means “eat.” As you gobble up your PB&J you are consuming it. As a result, you and ALL animals are consumers. Some consumers, such as grasshoppers, eat plants. Other consumers, such as birds, eat the grasshoppers. Then larger consumers, such as a hawk, eat the birds.

Examples of Consumers

Consumers Some organisms must get energy by eating other organisms. These organisms are called consumers. Consumers can be organized into three groups: herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

Herbivores Herbivores are consumers that eat only plants. Since plants, trees , and shrubs make their own food, herbivores get energy from eating these producers. In a forest ecosystem, deer and rabbits are common herbivores. In a savannah ecosystem in Africa, zebras and elephants are common herbivores.

Carnivores Carnivores are consumers that eat only other animals. In marine ecosystems, sharks, walruses, seals, and octopuses are common carnivores. In land ecosystems, lions, wolves, hawks, and eagles are common carnivores. Some carnivores are called scavengers. These carnivores eat animals that are already dead. Most of the time, scavengers eat leftovers from other carnivores. One example of a scavenger is a vulture.

Omnivores Omnivores are consumers that eat both plants and animals. Since they can eat a variety of organisms, omnivores can easily adapt to changing environments. Pigs, bears, raccoons, and humans are examples of omnivores. Organisms such as fungi and bacteria get energy in a different way than producers or consumers. These organisms, called decomposers, get energy by breaking down nutrients in dead organisms. As they break down the nutrients, decomposers produce simple products such as water and carbon dioxide. These products are returned to the ecosystem for other organisms to use. Decomposers are very important because they return nutrients and products to the ecosystem. One way to think of decomposers is as recyclers. Termites and earthworms are examples of decomposers.

Decomposers Sooner or later ALL living things DIE! What if they did not decay, or rot away? Imagine what the Earth would look like?

Decomposers Thankfully living things called decomposers cause dead plants and animals to decay. Decomposers break dead things into tiny pieces. These pieces become food in the soil to help more plants grow.

Examples of Decomposers Mushrooms Earthworms Mold Tiny algae

Land and Water Producers, consumers, and decomposers live both on land and in the water. Tiny algae in a pond are producers. The tadpoles that eat the algae are consumers. The bigger fish that eat the minnows are also consumers. Worms and insects living in the mud at the bottom of the pond are decomposers. v

What is a food chain? A food chain is “a sequence of organisms, each of which uses the next, lower member of the sequence as a food source”

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

Energy Pyramid An energy pyramid shows the amount of energy at each level of a food web.

Discussion Question Think of a forest with foxes, squirrels, birds, mice, mushrooms, and mold. Identify the role of each living thing. Is it a producer, consumer, or decomposer?