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FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS representation of predator-prey relationship in the environment ENERGY TRANSFER • Energy and nutrients are transferred from one organism to another in the food chain • The food chain can be represented using arrows (which show the energy flow) from one organism to another • Food chains usually start with a producer and then a primary consumer, then secondary consumer…tertiary…quaternary Each level of consumption in a food chain is called a trophic level. • Trophic Levels: The trophic level of an organism is the position it holds in a food chain. • Primary producers (organisms that make their own food from sunlight and/or chemical energy from deep sea vents) are the base of every food chain - these organisms are called autotrophs. • Primary consumers are animals that eat primary producers; they are also called herbivores (plant-eaters). • Secondary consumers eat primary consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants). • Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers. • Quaternary consumers eat tertiary consumers. • Food chains "end" with top predators, animals that have little or no natural enemies. • A food chain can have as many as three to four consumers • When any organism dies, it is eventually eaten by detrivores (like vultures, worms and crabs) and broken down by decomposers (mostly bacteria and fungi), and the exchange of energy continues. • These return vital nutrients in carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and small amounts of Sulphur back to the environment