Food Chains

• Show the feeding relationships between organisms within an

ecosystem
• Organisms can belong to three categories
• Producers – produce their own food, mainly plants
• Consumers – feed on other organisms. Predator and prey relationship
• Decomposers – convert dead and decaying organisms to nutrients
Consumers
• There are different levels of consumers
• Consumers can be further separated by what they eat
• Herbivores – plants only
• Carnivores – animals only
• Omnivores – both plants and animals (shown in a food web)
• Survival of each organism is linked to each other
Things to Note
• The chain always starts with a producer
• Arrows point towards the consumer and indicates which organism is
feeding or consuming
• The number of levels in a food chain is determined by the number of
organisms, each organism has its own level
• Resources and food are limited
Food Chain Example