Food Chains Food Webs

1. Food ChainsFood Webs

2. The arrows show which way the energy is going in the chain Food Chains A food chain shows what is eaten by what…

3. Food webs Food webs contain many interlinking food chains…

4. e.g take out the crab: What would happen if an animal or organism was “taken out”? • The flat winkles would not get eaten, so their population would…? • The herring gulls would have less food, so their population would probably…? increase decrease

5. Top carnivore Secondary consumer Primary consumer Producer

6. Important facts about food chains • Plants are called producersbecause 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)

7. Consumers • Animals are consumersbecause they cannot create their own food, they must eat plants or other animals to get the energy that they need

8. 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

9. Other Ways to Classify Consumers • Primary Consumers: Herbivores3. • Secondary Consumers: Carnivores that eat herbivores3. • Tertiary Consumers: Carnivores that eat other carnivores3. • Top Carnivore: not eaten by anyone

10. Primary Consumers (Herbivores) Muskrat (eats mostly Cattails) http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/graphics/muskrat1.jpg http://www.advancedwildlifecontrolllc.com/images/muskrat.jpg

11. 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

12. Primary Consumers in Marshes • Glassy-winged Toothpick Grasshopper – eats leaves of plants like cattail and pickerelweed http://bugguide.net/node/view/41662

13. Secondary Consumers • Black Rat Snake eats eggs of animals like wood duck http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/tate/Terms.htm

14. Secondary Consumers • Swamp Sparrow eats seeds but also insects like the toothpick grasshopper http://www.jeaniron.ca/2007/SwampSparrow6645.jpg

15. Eat other animals in marsh including snake and sparrow Tertiary Consumers Osprey www.audubon.org www.montereybay.com

16. 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

17. Detritivore • Worms are common detritivores in many ecosystems including marshes

18. Usually plants. Anything that takes energy from the sun. Animals that only eat plants An animal that eats producers An animal that eats primary consumers An animal that eats secondary consumers An animal that eats secondary consumers Eats only animals Not eaten by anything else Eats both animals and plants Feed on bodies of smaller dead animals, plants and dung Feed on all remaining dead plants and animals. (Ex: bacteria, fungi) Feeding level Producer fgfg Herbivore Consumer Primary consumer Secondary consumer Tertiary consumer Carnivore Top carnivore Omnivore Detritivore Decomposer Trophic Level

19. A “Pyramid of Numbers” A pyramid of numbers shows how many animals or organisms we are talking about. For example, consider the following food chain:

20. A pyramid of numbers for this food chain would look like this: One owl Some voles Lots of grass

21. Another example: Consider the food chain: GrassRabbitFoxFleas Lots of fleas One fox Some rabbits Lots of grass