Food Chains Food Webs
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Transcript of Food Chains Food Webs
Food ChainsFood ChainsFood WebsFood Webs
Food ChainsFood ChainsA food chain shows what is eaten by what…
The arrows show which way the energy is going in the
chain
Food webs contain many interlinking food chains…
Food websFood webs
1) The flat winkles would not get eaten, so their population would…?
2) The herring gulls would have less food, so their population would probably…?
What would happen if an animal or organism was “taken out”?
e.g take out the crab:
increase
decrease
Top carnivore
Secondary consumer
Primary consumer
Producer
Important facts about food chains• Plants are called producers because they
create their own food through photosynthesis3
• Examples of primary producers include algae, phytoplankton, and large plants.
• Primary producers are eaten by primary consumers (herbivores)
Consumers• Animals are consumers because they cannot
create their own food, they must eat plants or other animals to get the energy that they need
Four types of consumer• Herbivores: organisms that eat only plants3
• Carnivores: organisms that eat only other animals3.
• Omnivores: organisms that eat animals and plants3.
• Detritivores: organisms that eat dead materials and organic wastes
Other Ways to Classify Consumers
1. Primary Consumers: Herbivores3.
2. Secondary Consumers: Carnivores that eat herbivores3.
3. Tertiary Consumers: Carnivores that eat other carnivores3.
4. Top Carnivore: not eaten by anyone
Primary Consumers (Herbivores)
Muskrat (eats mostly Cattails)
http://www.advancedwildlifecontrolllc.com/images/muskrat.jpg
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/graphics/muskrat1.jpg
Primary Consumers in Marshes
• Wood Duck eats seeds like those of the Swamp Marsh Mallow and Blue Flag Iris
http://dsf.chesco.org/ccparks/lib/ccparks/wood_duck_pair.jpg
Primary Consumers in Marshes
• Glassy-winged Toothpick Grasshopper – eats leaves of plants like cattail and pickerelweed
http://bugguide.net/node/view/41662
Secondary Consumers
• Black Rat Snake eats eggs of animals like wood duck
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/tate/Terms.htm
Secondary Consumers
• Swamp Sparrow eats seeds but also insects like the toothpick grasshopper
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2007/SwampSparrow6645.jpg
Tertiary Consumers
• Eat other animals in marsh including snake and sparrow
www.audubon.org www.montereybay.com
Osprey
Omnivore• Racoon eats seeds, fruits, insects, worms, fish,
and frogs… and pretty much anything else they can get their paws on!
http://abouttitusville.com/BobPaty/Animals/images/Racoon.jpg
Detritivore
• Worms are common detritivores in many ecosystems including marshes
Producer fgfg
HerbivoreConsumerPrimary consumerSecondary consumerTertiary consumerCarnivoreTop carnivoreOmnivoreDetritivore
Decomposer
Trophic Level
Usually plants. Anything that takes energy from the sun.Animals that only eat plantsAn animal that eats producersAn animal that eats primary consumers
An animal that eats secondary consumers
An animal that eats secondary consumers
Eats only animalsNot eaten by anything elseEats both animals and plantsFeed on bodies of smaller dead animals, plants and dungFeed on all remaining dead plants and animals. (Ex: bacteria, fungi)Feeding level
A “Pyramid of A “Pyramid of Numbers”Numbers”
A pyramid of numbers shows how many animals or organisms we are talking about.
For example, consider the following food chain:
A pyramid of numbers for this food chain would look
like this:
Lots of grass
One owl
Some voles
Another example:
Consider the food chain:
Grass Rabbit Fox Fleas
Lots of grass
One fox
Some rabbits
Lots of fleas