1. Food Webs
and
Ecosystems

2. Ecosystems All ecosystems contain many food chains.
Each food chain contains both predators and prey.

3. Ecosystems
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.

4. Energy to Live In order for animals to live they need energy.
Some animals get the energy they need from eating plants and other vegetation.
Some animals get their energy from eating other animals.
Some animals eat both plants and other animals.

5. Producers Nearly all food webs start with a green plant.
Green plants are called producers because they produce their own food.

6. Consumers Primary, secondary, tertiary Herbivore - plant eater
Carnivore - meat eater
Omnivore - mixed plant/animal diet

7. Herbivores Animals that eat ONLY plants.
Herbivores have evolved to eat plants.
They need a lot of energy to stay alive.
Many have to eat all day long to get enough energy.
They have specialized teeth and stomachs to enable them to get the energy they need from plants.

8. Manatee A manatee is a mammal that lives in the water.
They are herbivores.
They eat 150 pounds of plants each day!
Manatees live in ocean waters off the coast of Florida.

9. Carnivore An animal that gets its food from eating other animals
Carnivores have evolved to eat meat.
They have specialized teeth and stomachs to enable them to get the energy they need from the bodies of other animals.

10. Omnivore Animals that eat both plants and other animals
Many will eat the eggs of other animals
Omnivores have teeth and stomachs that enable them to eat and digest both plants and meat (animals).

11. Omnivore
Some omnivores are scavengers which means they eat dead animals.
Most will eat plants that produce fruit and vegetables and will eat both the fruit and vegetables.
Humans are omnivores

12. Food Webs
Food webs show what eats what in order to gain the energy it needs to live.
Food webs use arrows to show what eats what.
Eaten by:
Eaten by:

13. Food chains that overlap are called FOOD WEBS.

14. Prey Animals that are hunted and eaten by other animals
Some prey animals are herbivores.
Some omnivores and carnivores are also prey to other animals.

15. Predators Animals that hunt and eat other animals
Some animals are predators and prey.
This means they eat some animals but are eaten by others.
The top predator that is prey to no other animal is called an apex predator.

16. The Biotic Components of Ecosystems
Producers (autotrophs)
- Photosynthesis
Consumers (heterotrophs)
-Aerobic respiration
Decomposers

17. Diamondback rattlesnake
Red-tailed hawk
Producer
to primary
consumer
Gambel's
quail
Primary
to secondary
consumer
Yucca
Agave
Jack
rabbit
Collared
lizard
Secondary to
higher-level
consumer
Prickly
pear
cactus
All producers and
consumers to
decomposers
Roadrunner
Diamondback rattlesnake
Darkling
beetle
Bacteria
Fungi
Kangaroo rat

18. Writing Activity
Write a paragraph describing how a food web works. Use the information you have learned in this lesson. Be sure to tell about animals that are both predators and prey.