Food Chains

A food chain shows what organisms eat- it shows the flow of food and energy from one orgainsim to the next. 

E.G 

Grass                ---->    Wildbeast              ---->     Hyena              ----> lion 

producer            primary consumer       secondary consumer       

                         herbivore                     carnivore                        top canivore

(trophic level 1)     (T2)                           (T3)                               (T4)

Producers -  plants algea and bacteria- produce own food. ALLWAYS start a food chain.

Consumers- are organisms that eat other organisms 

- Herbivores- animals that eat plants- ( primary consumers)  Second link of food chain

- Carnivores - Animals eat other animals- ( secondary consumers) Third link in chain 

-Top Carnivors-  are animals that eat other carnivors 

- Omnivors are animals that eat both animals and plants, and therefore are both primary and secondary consumers.

Detrital food chains 

- Start with dead material or waste 

( involve two other feeding types- below) 

- Detritivores are orgaisms that eat dead material such as dead leaves.

- Decomposers decay the bodies of other orgaisms but do not eat them 

Food webs 

Food chains show animals only eating one source of food- almost all animals eat a wide variety of food.

Animals in one environment appear in many food chains. One animal may link to several food chains forming a food web.