Ecological Roles

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Producers

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Organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, forming the base of the food chain.

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Consumers

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Organisms that obtain energy by eating other organisms, including herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

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Decomposers

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Organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

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Herbivores

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Consumers that eat only plants or algae, obtaining energy directly from producers.

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Carnivores

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Consumers that eat other animals, obtaining energy by preying on herbivores or other carnivores.

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Omnivores

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Consumers that eat both plants and animals, obtaining energy from multiple sources in the food chain.

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Food Chain

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Represents a series of events in which food and energy are transferred from one organism in an ecosystem to another

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Feeding Level

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The location of an organism along a food chain

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Trophic Levels

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The hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising producers at the base and successive levels of consumers above them.

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Scavengers

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Animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation.