LIVING ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

INTERDEPENDENCE All organisms in an environment or ecosystem play an important role in that environment or ecosystem Organisms in an environment are interconnected and depend on each other in one way or another

PRODUCERS Producers are organisms in a food web that produce food for the other organisms Producers are the basis of a food web. ALL organisms rely on producers Producers make their own food by photosynthesis Producers rely on carbon dioxide emitted by consumers for them to perform photosynthesis Example: Plants

CONSUMERS Consumers are organisms in an ecosystem that must eat food to obtain energy Consumers might eat producers or they might eat other consumers Consumers rely on plants for food and for oxygen Example: A deer would eat plants to survive or a wolf would eat a deer to survive. Deer and wolves are consumers

DECOMPOSERS Decomposers are organisms that break down waste and recycle it back into the soil Decomposers may break down animal waste, dead leaves or dead animals Decomposers improve the health of the soil by adding nutrients to it which other organisms can use Example: mushrooms, bacteria