Ecosystems

Question 1

What are producers?

Answer 1

Producers use light energy from the Sun to make their own food.

Question 2

Consumers

Answer 2

Consumers can’t make their own food. Instead, they get their energy by consuming other organisms (producers or other consumers).

Question 3

Decomposers

Answer 3

Decomposers (e.g. bacteria, fungi) recycle organic matter within an ecosystem. They’re crucial for the ecosystem function of nutrient cycling:
- Through decomposition, nutrients are put back into the soil.
- Plants take up these nutrients as food. These plants may go on to be eaten by consumers.
- When plants or consumers die, the nutrients are returned to the soil.

Question 4

What term is given to the organisms that recycle organic matter within an ecosystem?

Answer 4

Decomposer

Question 5

What are food chains?

Answer 5

Food chains show what eats what within a biological community.

Question 6

What are food webs?

Answer 6

Food webs show how several food chains overlap with each other.

Question 7

What are the six main categories of an eco - system?

Answer 7

Tundra, grassland, temperate deciduous forest, tropical rainforests, hot desert, polar