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A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly define all life forms as either autotrophs or heterotrophs, based on their trophic levels, the position that they occupy in the food web.
The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes a complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals. Food webs describe the transfer of energy between species in an ecosystem. While a food chain examines one, linear, energy pathway through ...
Food chain in a Swedish lake. Osprey feed on northern pike, which in turn feed on perch which eat bleak which eat crustaceans.. A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as earthworms and woodlice ...
Decomposer. Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. [ 1] Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic material to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development.
Photosynthesis ( / ˌfoʊtəˈsɪnθəsɪs / FOH-tə-SINTH-ə-sis) [ 1] is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism.
Biodegradation is the naturally-occurring breakdown of materials by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi or other biological activity. [ 35] Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradation occurs under a specific set of circumstances. [ 36] The predominant difference between the two is that one process is naturally-occurring ...
Energy flow (ecology) A food pyramid and a corresponding food web, demonstrating some of the simpler patterns in a food web. A graphic representation of energy transfer between trophic layers in an ecosystem. Energy flow is the flow of energy through living things within an ecosystem. [ 1] All living organisms can be organized into producers ...
Marine food web. The pelagic food web, showing the central involvement of marine microorganisms in how the ocean imports nutrients from and then exports them back to the atmosphere and ocean floor. A marine food web is a food web of marine life. At the base of the ocean food web are single-celled algae and other plant-like organisms known as ...