Energy Flow
Producers, Consumers, Decomposers
Producers
 Organisms that produce
food for themselves and
other organisms
 A producer gets its
energy by making it!
 Producers use energy
from sunlight to make
food by photosynthesis.
 Examples: include
plants, algae, and certain
bacteria
Lupine, buckwheat, lomatiums, and other
wildflowers carpet the trail to Ben Lomond Peak on
the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Utah.
Consumers
Consumers
 Consumers get energy
from eating producers
and other animals.
 Consumers cannot make
their own food.
 Organisms that depend
on other organisms for
food
Herbivores =
Consumers
 consume producers such
as plants or algae
 They are a necessary link
between producers and
other consumers.
 Examples include deer,
rabbits, and mice
Carnivores =
Consumers
 eats only other animals
(consumers)
 Examples: lions, polar
bears, hawks, frogs,
salmon, and spiders
Omnivores =
Consumers
 eats both plants
(producers) and
animals(consumers)
 Examples: humans,
black bears, gulls, crows,
and some species of fish.
Decomposers
 When organisms die, they
leave behind ENERGY and
MATTER in their remains.
 Decomposers:
 Break down these
remains and other wastes
and release simple
inorganic molecules back
to the environment.
 Get their energy by eating
dead stuff!
 Examples: Bacteria &
Fungi
 Banana Slugs Unpeeled
Millcreek Canyon
Scavengers =
Decomposers
 Consume the soft
tissues of dead animals
 Examples: vultures,
raccoons, blowflies.
Detritivores =
Decomposers
 consume detritus—the
dead leaves, animal
feces, and other organic
debris that collects on
the soil or at the bottom
of a body of water.
 On land examples:
earthworms, millipedes,
and dung beetles
 In water examples:
“bottom feeders” such as
sea cucumbers and
catfish.