1. Food Chains Food Webs

2. A food chain shows what is eaten by what…
The arrows show which way the energy is going in the chain

3. Food webs contain many interlinking food chains…

4. What would happen if an animal or organism was “taken out”?
e.g take out the crab:
The flat winkles would not get eaten, so their population would…?
The herring gulls would have less food, so their population would probably…?
increase
decrease

5. Top carnivore
Secondary consumer
Primary consumer
Producer

6. Important facts about food chains
Plants are called producers because they create their own food through photosynthesis3
Examples of primary producers include algae, phytoplankton, and large plants.
Primary producers are eaten by primary consumers (herbivores)

7. Consumers
Animals are consumers because they cannot create their own food, they must eat plants or other animals to get the energy that they need

8. Four types of consumer Herbivores: organisms that eat only plants3
Carnivores: organisms that eat only other animals3.
Omnivores: organisms that eat animals and plants3.
Detritivores: organisms that eat dead materials and organic wastes

9. Other Ways to Classify Consumers
Primary Consumers: Herbivores3.
Secondary Consumers: Carnivores that eat herbivores3.
Tertiary Consumers: Carnivores that eat other carnivores3.
Top Carnivore: not eaten by anyone

10. Primary Consumers (Herbivores)
Muskrat (eats mostly Cattails)

11. Primary Consumers in Marshes
Wood Duck eats seeds like those of the Swamp Marsh Mallow and Blue Flag Iris

12. Primary Consumers in Marshes
Glassy-winged Toothpick Grasshopper – eats leaves of plants like cattail and pickerelweed

13. Secondary Consumers
Black Rat Snake eats eggs of animals like wood duck

14. Secondary Consumers
Swamp Sparrow eats seeds but also insects like the toothpick grasshopper

15. Tertiary Consumers
Eat other animals in marsh including snake and sparrow
Osprey

16. Omnivore
Racoon eats seeds, fruits, insects, worms, fish, and frogs… and pretty much anything else they can get their paws on!

17. Detritivore
Worms are common detritivores in many ecosystems including marshes

18. Producer fgfg
Herbivore
Consumer
Primary
consumer
Secondary
Tertiary
Carnivore
Top carnivore
Omnivore
Detritivore
Decomposer
Trophic Level
Usually plants. Anything that takes energy from the sun.
Animals that only eat plants
An animal that eats producers
An animal that eats primary consumers
An animal that eats secondary consumers
Eats only animals
Not eaten by anything else
Eats both animals and plants
Feed on bodies of smaller dead animals, plants and dung
Feed on all remaining dead plants and animals. (Ex: bacteria, fungi)
Feeding level

19. A “Pyramid of Numbers”
A pyramid of numbers shows how many animals or organisms we are talking about.
For example, consider the following food chain:

20. A pyramid of numbers for this food chain would look like this:
One owl
Some voles
Lots of grass

21. Consider the food chain:
Another example:
Consider the food chain:
Grass Rabbit Fox Fleas
Lots of fleas
One fox
Some rabbits
Lots of grass