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Food Chain Vocab
Food chain and related vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| consumer | Organisms that eat other organisms for energy . there are three types - carnivore, herbivore and omnivore |
| decomposer | Organisms that get energy by breaking down dead organisms. Bacteria and fungi are examples. “Decomposer-dead-decay” |
| carnivore | A consumer that eats only animals(eats meat-carne) |
| omnivore | A consumer that eats a combination of plants and animals (eats all) |
| herbivore | A consumer that eats only plants (eats plants-“herb”) |
| scavenger | A specialized carnivore that only eats food that is already dead and that they have not killed themselves (carrion) |
| carrion | The meat from animals that have died |
| food chain | Shows the flow of energy (food) and the feeding relationships between each organism |
| food web | A pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem |
| Primary consumer | A first level consumer that eats the producer. (also known as an herbivore because of that) |
| Secondary consumer | Consumes food from the primary consumer meaning it is a carnivore. |
| energy pyramid | shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food chain/web; the most energy is available at the producer (1st) level, and the least energy is available at the top-most consumer |
| trophic level | Trophic levels are the levels within the food chain where an organism obtains its energy. Usually shown on an energy pyramid. |
| autotroph | organisms that make their own food through photosynthesis - i.e.-plants! |
| heterotroph | organisms that rely on other organisms to obtain energy through eating them. |