Transcript 4.1 Roles of living things

4.1 Roles of living things
Everything needs energy to live and
survive
 Organisms of most ecosystems gather
food in three basic ways. All energy
enters at the level of the producer
1.Producers
2.Consumers
3.Decomposers

1. Producers
*Organisms that make
their own food from
inorganic molecules
and energy
*Plants are most
common. They
photosynthesize. They
are mainly terrestrial
(on land)
*Small protists and some
bacteria are common.
They are mainly aquatic
( in water)
2. Consumers
*Organisms that
cannot make their
own food
*All animals
*All fungi
*Some protists
*Some bacteria
*Obtain energy by
eating other
organisms
4 Types of Consumers
Herbivores
II. Carnivores
III. Omnivores
IV. Scavengers
I.
I. Herbivores
*Only eat plants
*Since they only
eat plants they
are called
primary
consumers
*Many insects,
birds and
grazing animals
II. Carnivores
*Eat herbivores or
other carnivores
*If eat herbivores,
called secondary
consumers
*If eat other
carnivores, called
tertiary consumers
*Lions, snakes, hawks,
spiders
III. Omnivores
*Eat both
producers and
consumers
*Includes
humans, bears
and chimps
*Fit all 3
categories of
consumers
*Primary:eat
potato
*Secondary:eat
hamburger
*Tertiary:eat
snake
Omnivores
IV. Scavengers
*Feed on bodies
of dead
organisms. Do
not hunt. Also
feed on dead
plants
*Vultures and
hyenas
3. Decomposers
*Bacteria and fungi that
consume the bodies of
dead organisms and
other organic wastes.
*They break down the
organic waste matter.
Crucial to ecosystem
because they recycle
the nutrients back into
the environment.
Trophic Levels
*Different feeding levels
of organisms
*A layer in the structure
of feeding relationships
Trophic Levels
* 1st trophic
level are
producers
*2nd, 3rd, 4th, and
5th trophic
levels are
consumers
Autotrophs
Producers
which
make their
own food
Heterotrophs
 Consumers
which obtain
their
nourishment
by eating
other
organisms