All living organisms on earth owe their existence to the sunlight that penetrates through the atmospheric layers and reaches the earth’s surface.The transmission of energy from the sun starts with green plants, also known as producers. The producer plants are eaten by certain animals, which are then eaten by other animals or organisms.While you may spot one animal preying on another for food, you will never find plants or trees doing the same. Then how do the plants obtain their food? Green plants are capable of making their own food directly from the sunlight through the process of photosynthesis. As animals cannot make their own food, they are called consumers.The plant-eating animals are called primary consumers, who the secondary and tertiary consumers then eat. As this transfer of food energy passes from one level to the next in a chained manner, it is called a food chain. As there are numerous ecosystems in our environment, the complexity of food chains keeps on amplifying. This results in the creation of food webs where the relationship between the producers and consumers keeps on growing, forming a network of numerous living organisms.Are you finding this helpful? Find more student-friendly information about the producers and consumers here.Also, enhance your knowledge by reading interesting facts about the civil war uniform and children’s books from the 90s.Define Producers And State Their SignificanceIn the biotic environment, producers are primarily the green plants on land that can manufacture their own food.The presence of chloroplasts on the leaf’s surface helps in trapping the sun’s radiant energy. Water and carbon dioxide react with the trapped sunlight that makes up food for the plants in the form of glucose. This glucose is then spread to every cell of the plant’s body to function correctly. This is the reason why green plants are called producers or autotrophs. The producers lie at the beginning of every food chain or web on which all other animals are dependent either directly or indirectly. The energy transfer among animals in the form of food starts from the herbivore or primary consumer, for example, deer who consume green plants.In the sunlit layer of the ocean, the cyanobacteria or blue-green algae are the producers or protists. These prokaryotes can photosynthesize using sunlight, water, and dissolved carbon dioxide to obtain energy. These algae form the primary producers of the marine food chain.In the dark depths of the ocean, the single-celled organism that manufactures its own food without sunlight through the process of chemosynthesis is also a producer. They synthesize the chemicals coming out from the hydrothermal vents to make their own food.Define Consumers And State Their SignificanceConsumers are all animals that depend on other sources to obtain food.Primary consumers are herbivores that eat up the green plants. Examples include cow, goat, giraffe, deer whose only food sources are plants. Secondary consumers come next in the food chain that feeds on the herbivores. Examples of flesh-eating carnivores include tigers, lions, leopards, and so on. Apart from plant-eating and animal-eating animals, there is another category of consumers called tertiary consumers. They are also called omnivores as they feed on both plants and animals to obtain nutrients. Humans, scavengers like eagles and jackals are examples of omnivores.Is chicken a producer or consumer?Chicken is a consumer.Since chicken is an animal and cannot produce its own food like plants, it falls under the category of consumers. Since they feed on various plant seeds, insects, small mice, and worms, they are a tertiary consumer or omnivores.What animals eat both producers and consumers?Tertiary consumers are examples of omnivorous animals that eat plants and secondary consumers alike.All the living organisms of the world are interdependent on each other, either directly or indirectly. Solar radiation is first trapped by the green plant in the making of glucose. After that, it is eaten by some herbivorous animals as food. The herbivores are then preyed upon by carnivores or secondary consumers. Finally, the omnivores or tertiary consumers consume the producers, primary and secondary consumers as food. Humans are one of the best examples of omnivorous animals. Our diet consists of a wide range of foods starting from eating the greens of trees to red meat. Other animals like jackals, bears, birds, dogs also obtain energy from primary producers and lower order consumers. Scavengers like vultures, eagles, wolves are a particular category of omnivores that feed on dead organisms like dead plants and dead animals.Did you know?The chain-like process of energy transfer from the autotrophs to the different kinds of consumers in the environment creates a food chain.All plants and animals connected to the food chain are interdependent. Any change in the population size of these organisms can disrupt the normal functioning of the food chain, shaking the ecosystem’s balance.A food chain is a part of a bigger network of consumers that form the food web, so the food chain and food web are not precisely the same. Since a single animal can be eaten by different kinds of consumers belonging to diverse ecosystems, the intricate interdependency has complicated the simple food chain. For example, a frog can either be eaten by a Largemouth bass or Catfish belonging to the aquatic ecosystems or can be eaten by an eagle belonging to the forest edge ecosystem. The two different food chains become linked, and hence, all food chains become part of a food web.A decomposer is neither a producer nor a consumer. Most bacteria and fungi consume the remains or waste materials of dead plants, leaves, and animals to obtain energy. These bacteria help in breaking down the waste organic matter and releasing nutrients back into the soil.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for What Are Producers And Consumers? Curious Food Chain Facts For Kids! then why not take a look at What Animal Has The Strongest Sense Of Smell? A Tell A Tale On Sense, or What Animal Is A Leo? Curious Zodiac Signs Facts That Are Worth A Read?
All living organisms on earth owe their existence to the sunlight that penetrates through the atmospheric layers and reaches the earth’s surface.
