Cain, M. L., Bowman, W. D. & Hacker, S. D. Ecology. Sunderland MA: Sinauer Associate Inc. 2008. Show Cebrian, J. Patterns in the fate of production in plant communities. American Naturalist 154, 449-468 (1999) Cebrian, J. Role of first-order consumers in ecosystem carbon flow. Ecology Letters 7, 232-240 (2004) Elton, C. S. Animal Ecology. Chicago, MI: University of Chicago Press, 1927, Republished 2001. Knight, T. M., et al. Trophic cascades across ecosystems. Nature 437, 880-883 (2005) Krebs, C. J. Ecology 6th ed. San Francisco CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 2009. Marquis, R. J. & Whelan, C. Insectivorous birds increase growth of white oak through consumption of leaf-chewing insects. Ecology 75, 2007-2017 (1994) Molles, M. C. Jr. Ecology: Concepts and Applications 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Paine, R. T. The Pisaster-Tegula interaction: Prey parches, predator food preferences and intertide community structure. Ecology 60, 950-961 (1969) Paine, R. T. Food web complexity and species diversity. The American Naturalist 100, 65-75 (1966) Paine, R. T. Food webs: Linkage, interaction strength and community infrastructure. Journal of Animal Ecology 49, 667-685 (1980) Pimm, S. L., Lawton, J. H. & Cohen, J. E. Food web patterns and their consequences. Nature 350, 669-674 (1991) Power, M. E. Top-down and bottom-up forces in food webs: do plants have primacy? Ecology 73, 733-746 (1992) Schoender, T. W. Food webs from the small to the large. Ecology 70, 1559-1589 (1989) Shurin, J. B., Gruner, D. S. & Hillebrand, H. All wet dried up? Real differences between aquatic and terrestrial food webs. Proc. R. Soc. B 273, 1-9 (2006) doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3377 Smith, T. M. & Smith, R. L. Elements of Ecology 7th ed. San Francisco CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 2009. Video TranscriptWhich type of organism transforms nonliving components into living components and acts as the energy source to all other organisms directly and indirectly? To answer this question, we need to recall the types of organisms and how each type obtains energy. The energy in an ecosystem typically starts with the Sun. Green plants, algae, and some bacteria convert sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis. A few organisms, like deep-sea bacteria, break down chemicals for energy instead of photosynthesizing. These plants, algae, and bacteria are called producers because they produce their own food. Green plants are then eaten by another type of organism. The organisms that feed on plants are called herbivores. Herbivores are eaten by other organisms. The organisms that feed on meat from other animals are called carnivores. Both herbivores and carnivores are consumers. This is because they consume other organisms to survive and cannot produce the energy they need themselves. When consumers or producers die, their bodies are eaten by fungi, bacteria, and small invertebrates. These organisms are called decomposers because they carry out the process of decomposition. They break down all the dead matter and waste of other organisms into simpler substances. Producers can absorb the minerals and elements left behind by decomposers, and the cycle continues. Of the different types of organisms, only producers transform nonliving components into living components. They are the source of energy for herbivores and decomposers directly and for carnivores and decomposers indirectly. So, the answer to the question is producers. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Energy flow through ecosystemsHow food chains and food webs represent the flow of energy and matter. Trophic levels and efficiency of energy transfer. Energy flow through ecosystemsBiology is brought to you with support from the Amgen Foundation AP® is a registered trademark of the College Board, which has not reviewed this resource. Nutrition Living things feed. Food is the material from which organisms through respiration obtain the energy required to sustain life and carry out all the other defining functions of living things. Food also provides the raw materials for growth and repair. The study of food and feeding is called nutrition. There are two types of nutrition:
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What type of organism obtains its energy from the food they eat?Organisms that obtain their energy by feeding on other organisms are called heterotrophs.
What is the name of the groups of organisms that get their food from other organisms?These animals are called consumers because they consume something else to get their food. There are different types of consumers. An animal that eats producers, like plants or algae, is called an herbivore. Carnivores eat other consumers.
What organism obtains energy by eating both plants and animals?Omnivores. Omnivores are heterotrophs that consume both plants and animals. They include pigs, brown bears, gulls, crows, and humans. Omnivores actually fall on a continuum between herbivores and carnivores.
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