Photo: Alena Darmel

What do all food chains have to start with?

Producers, also known as autotrophs, make their own food. They make up the first level of every food chain. Autotrophs are usually plants or one-celled organisms.

nationalgeographic.org - Food Chain | National Geographic Society

What can I spray on my porch to keep bugs away?

Hydrogen Peroxide: Put a little bit of hydrogen peroxide into a spray bottle, and spread it liberally over your home's patio and other surfaces....

Last updated Jan 8, 2018

What is the number 1 nutrient deficiency in the world?

Iron deficiency Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide and is one of the leading factors contributing to the global...

Last updated Mar 29, 2022

Promotion

The food chain describes who eats whom in the wild. Every living thing—from one-celled algae to giant blue whales—needs food to survive. Each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem. For example, grass produces its own food from sunlight. A rabbit eats the grass. A fox eats the rabbit. When the fox dies, bacteria break down its body, returning it to the soil where it provides nutrients for plants like grass. Of course, many different animals eat grass, and rabbits can eat other plants besides grass. Foxes, in turn, can eat many types of animals and plants . Each of these living things can be a part of multiple food chains . All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.

Trophic Levels

Organisms in food chains are grouped into categories called trophic levels . Roughly speaking, these levels are divided into producers (first trophic level ), consumers (second, third, and fourth trophic levels ), and decomposers. Producers , also known as autotrophs, make their own food. They make up the first level of every food chain . Autotrophs are usually plants or one-celled organisms. Nearly all autotrophs use a process called photosynthesis to create “food” (a nutrient called glucose) from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. Plants are the most familiar type of autotroph , but there are many other kinds. Algae , whose larger forms are known as seaweed, are autotrophic . Phytoplankton, tiny organisms that live in the ocean, are also autotrophs . Some types of bacteria are autotrophs . For example, bacteria living in active volcanoes use sulfur compounds to produce their own food. This process is called chemosynthesis. The second trophic level consists of organisms that eat the producers . These are called primary consumers, or herbivores. Deer, turtles, and many types of birds are herbivores . Secondary consumers eat the herbivores . Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers . There may be more levels of consumers before a chain finally reaches its top predator. Top predators , also called apex predators, eat other consumers . Consumers can be carnivores (animals that eat other animals) or omnivores (animals that eat both plants and animals). Omnivores , like people, consume many types of foods. People eat plants , such as vegetables and fruits. We also eat animals and animal products, such as meat, milk, and eggs. We eat fungi, such as mushrooms. We also eat algae , in edible seaweeds like nori (used to wrap sushi rolls) and sea lettuce (used in salads).

Does salt need oxygen absorbers?

Salt also does not need an O2 absorber when stored and could possibly clump together with an absorber. Once you open your O2 absorbers, they need...

Last updated Oct 16, 2018

What does Dawn dish soap do to bugs?

Dish detergents disrupt the cell membrane of these soft, small insects and smother them to death. Grubs drown in dish soap and are suffocated by...

Last updated Dec 18, 2021

Promotion

Detritivores and decomposers are the final part of food chains . Detritivores are organisms that eat nonliving plant and animal remains. For example, scavengers such as vultures eat dead animals. Dung beetles eat animal feces. Decomposers like fungi and bacteria complete the food chain . They turn organic wastes, such as decaying plants , into inorganic materials, such as nutrient -rich soil. Decomposers complete the cycle of life, returning nutrients to the soil or oceans for use by autotrophs . This starts a whole new food chain .

Food Chains

Different habitats and ecosystems provide many possible food chains that make up a food web. In one marine food chain , single-celled organisms called phytoplankton provide food for tiny shrimp called krill. Krill provide the main food source for the blue whale , an animal on the third trophic level . In a grassland ecosystem , a grasshopper might eat grass, a producer . The grasshopper might get eaten by a rat, which in turn is consumed by a snake. Finally, a hawk—an apex predator —swoops down and snatches up the snake. In a pond, the autotroph might be algae . A mosquito larva eats the algae , and then perhaps a dragonfly larva eats the young mosquito. The dragonfly larva becomes food for a fish, which provides a tasty meal for a raccoon.

nationalgeographic.org - Food Chain | National Geographic Society

What temperature kills E coli?

160°F 160°F/70°C -- Temperature needed to kill E. coli and Salmonella. While Salmonella is killed instantly at temperatures above 160F keeping the...

Last updated Mar 2, 2021

Why is it still impossible to get a PS5 2022?

A global chip shortage impacting electronic manufacturers since 2020 and very high demand for the PS5 have again made the gaming console one of the...

Last updated Mar 26, 2018

Promotion

How was Shadow born?

Character biography Within the Sonic series' fictional universe, Shadow the Hedgehog is an artificial being created by Professor Gerald Robotnik...

Last updated Jun 30, 2021

Promotion

Who is the youngest on the grid?

Yuki Tsunoda The youngest driver on the F1 grid is Yuki Tsunoda.

Last updated Dec 18, 2021