Food Chains and Food Webs Flashcards
Food Chain
Movement of energy from one individual to the next up through trophic levels
Food Web
Food webs show movement of energy and the many interactions within an ecosystem.
Herbivore
Only eats plants
Carnivore
Only eats meat
Omnivore
Eats both meat and plants
Producer
An organism that can produce/create their own energy.
Consumer
An organism that needs to consume/eat other consumers or producers to gain energy.
Trophic Level
The level an organism is found on a food web
Decomposer
Responsible for breaking down dead, decaying organisms to return the nutrients to the ecosystem
Primary consumer
Is part of the first trophic level. Is the only consumer to soley eat the producer and nothing more. Provides for the following consumers
Secondary consumer
Consumes the herbivorous animal that is known as the primary consumer. This is where the secondary consumer gets its energy from.
Tertiary consumer
Tertiary consumers are the third trophic level that consumes any organism from the first or second trophic level in order to obtain energy.
Quaternary consumer
Quaternary consumers are often top predators within the environment, and they eat the tertiary consumers.
ecological pyramid
An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bioproductivity at each trophic level in an ecosystem.
energy pyramid
a graphical representation of the energy found within the trophic levels of an ecosystem.
