Before the internet, the "worldwide web" could have referred to the intricate systems of connections between living organisms and their environments. We often call it the food web, although it encompasses many more factors than just diet. The living web, like a tapestry, is held together not by tacks or glue, but by interdependence — one strand stays in place because it is entwined with many others.
Autotrophs or producers: These are self-nourishing organisms. Producer organisms can produce their own food. These organisms contain chlorophyll that makes them able to produce their own food. They include microscopic and rooted plants and pigmented bacteria. There is fixation of sunlight energy. These plants use simple inorganic substances such as water, mineral elements (potassium, phosphates, phosphorus, sulphate, sulphur, nitrogen etc) to build up complex substances (carbohydrates). Producers (Plants) use the sunlight and other substances to produce their own food. In this process, plants uses carbondioxide to produce oxygen. The figure below shows the dependence on oxygen and carbondioxide.
The process of decay uses up oxygen and produces carbon dioxide
The same concept keeps our planet working. Plants and animals (including humans) depend on each other as well as microorganisms, land, water, and climate to keep our entire system alive and well.
Consumers: These are those organisms that rely on plants for food or which feed on others because they are dependent. They cannot produce their own food and must eat other organisms. They include:
- Primary consumers are organisms which feed directly on the producers (plants).
- Secondary consumers (carnivores) are the organisms which feed on the herbivores.
- Tertiary consumers are organisms, which feed on both plants and animals (omnivores)
Consumers depends on the producers and they include;
o Primary consumers: cows, horses, goats, rodents, donkeys (herbivores).
o Secondary consumers (carnivores): foxes, dogs, wolves, jackals, hawks, eagles, calves, kites, spiders, civet cats, cats, lions, tigers, hyenas.
o Tertiary consumers (omnivores) are organisms having the ability to eat plants and animals such as man, starlings, red fox, black bears.
All organisms depend on sunlight
Decomposers: These are organisms that breakdown organic matter and in turn return into the environment to be reused by producers or organisms that recycle matter. Such organisms include bacteria and fungi (mushrooms, moulds etc). Consumers and decomposers are also called heterotrophs because they cannot produce their own food. Saprophytes are heterotrophic plants that obtain their food from dead organisms. Heterotrophic animals which feed on dead bodies of other animals are called scavengers e.g. vultures. Saprophytes and scavengers can either be consumers or producers.
Decomposers are organisms like bacteria and fungi, which break down dead materials into more complex substances. This depends on the type of food chain.
If it were not for bacterial and fungal decomposition, we would be knee deep in dead leaves after a few years.
Remove one piece, one species, and small changes lead to big problems that aren't easy to fix. "When you remove one element from a fragile ecosystem, it has far-reaching and long-lasting effects on biodiversity."
