Ecology- Trophic Levels

Types of Organisms

  • Producer

-Autotroph: produces its own food

  • Consumer

-Heterotroph: must obtain its food,



Producer


Capture energy (sunlight) and make their own food

  • Ex: Plants

Consumer

Eat organisms (organic matter) to obtain energy

-Herbivore

-Carnivore

-Omnivore

-Detritivore

-Decomposer

Herbivore

Eats plants

Ex: zebras, giraffes, hippos


Carnivore

Eats meat

Ex: lion


Omnivore


Can eat plants and meat

Ex: monkeys and human


Detritivore


Gets energy from dead, organic wastes (recycling of nutrients)

-scavengers

ex: earthworms, slugs, snails, and dung beetles, maggots


Decomposers


organisms that cause decay

  • ex: bacteria and fungi

Food Chain

  • Path of energy

  • Linear trophic (feeding) relationships

  • Important note:  arrows point in the direction of energy flow

Food Webs

  • More realistic than food chain (most organisms feed on different trophic levels)

  • Interconnected food chains

Energy Pyramid

  • Demonstrates the amount of energy stored by each trophic level

  • 10% rules -Only 10% of energy in a trophic level is transferred to the next higher trophic level.
    Trophic levels are limited (most have only three or four levels)