Producers, Consumers and Decomposers

1
Producers, Consumers and Decomposers

• All organisms in an ecosystem need energy to
  live. Organisms can be grouped by how they get
  energy. Organisms in an ecosystem are grouped as
  producers, consumers, or decomposers.

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Producers

• Producers are organisms that use energy from
  the Sun to make their own food through a process
  called photosynthesis. You can think of a
  producer as an organism that produces its own
  food. Most producers are plants. However, algae
  and some bacteria are producers, too. The
  grasses, shrubs, and trees in a meadow are
  examples of producers. These types of producers
  are common in grasslands and forest ecosystems.
  Algae are common producers in estuaries and
  marine ecosystems.

3
Consumers

• Some organisms must get energy by eating other
  organisms. These organisms are called consumers.
• Consumers can be organized into three groups
  herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

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Herbivores

• Herbivores are consumers that eat only
  plants. Since plants, trees , and shrubs make
  their own food, herbivores get energy from eating
  these producers. In a forest ecosystem, deer and
  rabbits are common herbivores. In a savannah
  ecosystem in Africa, zebras and elephants are
  common herbivores.

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Carnivores

• Carnivores are consumers that eat only other
  animals. In marine ecosystems, sharks, walruses,
  seals, and octopuses are common carnivores. In
  land ecosystems, lions, wolves, hawks, and eagles
  are common carnivores. Some carnivores are
  called scavengers. These carnivores eat animals
  that are already dead. Most of the time,
  scavengers eat leftovers from other carnivores.
  One example of a scavenger is a vulture.

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Omnivores

• Omnivores are consumers that eat both
  plants and animals. Since they can eat a variety
  of organisms, omnivores can easily adapt to
  changing environments. Pigs, bears, raccoons,
  and humans are examples of omnivores.
• Organisms such as fungi and bacteria get
  energy in a different way than producers or
  consumers. These organisms, called decomposers,
  get energy by breaking down nutrients in dead
  organisms. As they break down the nutrients,
  decomposers produce simple products such as water
  and carbon dioxide. These products are returned
  to the ecosystem for other organisms to use.
  Decomposers are very important because they
  return nutrients and products to the ecosystem.
  One way to think of decomposers is as recyclers.
  Termites and earthworms are examples of
  decomposers.