Producer, Consumer, Decomposer

Tertiary consumer

A carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.

Carnivore

A consumer that eats only animals.

Fungi

A group of simple, plantlike animals that live on dead organic matter.

Community

A group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other.

Herbivore

A plant-eating animal.

Energy pyramid

A way of showing how energy moves through a food chain.

Prey

An animal hunted for food, especially by a carnivorous animal.

Omnivore

An animal that eats both plants and animals.

Scavenger

An animal that eats dead animals.

Secondary consumer

An animal that eats other animals. Carnivores are secondary consumers.

Predator

An animal that hunts and eats other animals.

Producer

An organism that can make its own food.

Primary consumer

An organism that feeds on all or part of plants or on other producers.

Decomposer

An organism that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter.

Consumer

An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms.

Organism

Any living thing.

Food web

Links all the food chains in an ecosystem together.

Environmental factor

One part of the environment. An environmental factor can be nonliving, such as water, light, temperature, or chemicals, or living, such as a plant or an animal.

Energy

The ability to move or change matter.

Environment

The area in which something exists or lives.

Habitat

The place where an Organism lives.

Photosynthesis

The process by which plants and some other organisms capture the energy in sunlight and use it to make food.

Decomposition

The process of decaying, rotting, or breaking down.

Niche

The role of an organism in its habitat, or how it makes its living.

Food chain

The way food passes from one organism to another.

Food source

What an organism obtains its energy from.