READ: Relationships Among Living Things

Producers and Consumers

The organisms that produce food are extremely important in every ecosystem. Organisms that produce their own food are called producers. There are two ways of producing food energy:

• Photosynthesis: plants on land, phytoplankton in the surface ocean, and some other organisms.
• Chemosynthesis: bacteria at hydrothermal vents.

Organisms that use the food energy that was created by producers are named consumers. There are many types of consumers:

• Herbivores eat producers directly. These animals break down the plant structures to get the materials and energy they need.
• Carnivores eat animals; they can eat herbivores or other carnivores.
• Omnivores eat plants and animals as well as fungi, bacteria, and organisms from the other kingdoms.