Ecosystem Nutrition and Energy Flow

Animals obtain energy by consuming organic matter (plants or other animals). Water is essential for life but does not provide caloric energy.

Omnivores are organisms that have a diet consisting of both plant and animal matter. Herbivores eat only plants, and carnivores eat only meat.

Carnivores are organisms that primarily consume the flesh or meat of other animals. They are secondary or tertiary consumers in a food chain.

Herbivores are animals that are adapted to eat plants. They function as primary consumers in an ecosystem.

A food chain represents the transfer of energy from one organism to another as they consume one another. While it shows who eats whom, the fundamental concept being traced is energy flow.

Plants are producers that use photosynthesis to convert solar energy into chemical energy. This energy then supports the rest of the food chain.

Decomposers, such as bacteria and fungi, break down dead organisms and waste products, returning nutrients to the soil.

Animals are heterotrophs, meaning they must consume other organisms for energy. Therefore, they are classified as consumers.

Plants are autotrophs that produce their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. This makes them the producers in an ecosystem.

Photosynthesis is the specific biological process used by plants and other autotrophs to convert light energy into chemical energy.

A predator is an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals. Prey is the animal being hunted.

Omnivores are animals that have a diet consisting of both plant and animal matter. Herbivores eat only plants, and carnivores eat only meat.

A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

Producers, such as plants and algae, are organisms that produce their own food using sunlight through photosynthesis.