Ecosystem Nutrition and Energy Flow

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.

Herbivores are animals that have a diet consisting exclusively of plants.

Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organic matter. Bacteria, mushrooms, and many insects play this role in the ecosystem.

Plants are producers because they create their own energy using sunlight through photosynthesis. Consumers must eat other organisms to get energy.

A predator is an organism that hunts and kills other organisms for food. The organism being hunted is called the prey.

Benthos are the organisms found at the bottom of freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers, and streams and since light cannot reach such deep water, therefore, they depend upon organic matter. This dead and decaying matter sustain their food chain hence, they are mostly scavengers or detritivores, belonging to primary consumers of detritus food chain.