HOW DOES ENERGY MOVE IN AN ECOSYSTEM?

PRODUCERS

• A plant that makes its own food.
• Plants and algae are called producers.
• Producers use sunlight to make their own food.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

CONSUMERS

• They get food by consuming, or eating, other organisms
• Animals and some other organisims cannot produce their own food
• Some consumers such as cows, get energy directly from producers by eating grass

HERBIVORES

• Animals that only eat plants
• Herbivoresare characterized by broad molars and bunt- edged teeth, which they use to pull, cut, and grind their food
• Their digestive systems are adapted to digest cellulose

CARNIVORES

• Animals that eats meat
• Carnivores also have a very simple digestive system because meat is easier to break down into energy than vegetable matter
• They have teeth made for grasping and tearing and they are very well coordinated

OMNIVORES

• A animal that eats plants and meat
• Omnivores can be a primary consumer
• It is easy for omnivores to find food because they eat about anything

DECOMPOSERS

• An organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertibrate, that decomposes organic material
• Decomposers many times eat dead things from the ground in order to get nutrients
• Decomposers can be referred to as nature's recyclers because they help keep nutrients moving in the food web

FOOD CHAIN

• A hierarchical series of organisms each depend on the next as a source of food
• The food chain is the transfer of energy from one species to another
• If one level is removed from the food chain, it can have disastrous results

FOOD WEB

• A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains
• The food chain is the transfer of energy from one species to another
• It is also means of shoeing how energy and materials flow through a community of species as a result of these feeding relationships