Ecosystems

• A producer uses sunlight energy to produce food
• A consumer gets its energy by eating other organisms
• Primary consumers are organisms that eat producers
• Secondary consumers are organisms that eat primary consumers
• A decomposer is an organism that gets its energy by breaking down dead material
• An ecosystem is all the biotic and abiotic parts of an area
• Ponds are freshwater ecosystems found throughout the UK that host a variety of freshwater species
• Algae and microscopic plants are examples of producers in the freshwater pond ecosystem
• Bacteria, worms and maggots are examples of decomposers in a freshwater pond
• A food chain shows how producers and consumers interact within the ecosystem
• The complex relationships between producers and consumers can be demonstrated by food webs