3.2: Energy, Producers, & Consumers

energy in an ecosystem originally comes from the sun energy flows through ecosystems from producers to consumers 2 2

producers are autotrophs – they capture the sun’s energy to make their own food include plants, some kinds of bacteria, and algae

autotrophs are often called primary producers – they are the first producers of energy that is used by other organisms glucose!

are classified based upon what they eat the majority of the time: consumers are heterotrophs – they must eat other organisms to get energy needed are classified based upon what they eat the majority of the time: herbivores carnivores omnivores detritivores scavengers decomposers

Herbivores eat only plants rabbit zebra 6 6

Carnivores eat animals (meat) by hunting lion fox 7 7

Omnivores eat both plants and animals many organisms fall into this category raccoon chicken brown bear 8 8

Scavengers eat large dead organisms without killing it themselves house fly hyenas AND vultures 9 9

Detritivores eat small fragments of dead matter & waste (eat detritus) millipede earthworm dung beetle 10 slug 10

Decomposers chemically break down dead matter (turn it into detritus) VERY important as they return nutrients back to the soil bacteria fungi 11 11