ANSWERS: 1
  • A food chain is a simple look at who eats whom. However, a food web is a more complex look at how living things within a habitat--such as the jungle--are interdependent.

    Primary Producers

    The food web includes plants and autotrophs--anything that uses light or chemical energy to make food for itself--referred to as "primary producers." In the jungle, this level includes rain forest plants.

    Primary Consumers

    The next level in the web is composed of herbivores (animals that eat plants only); these are the primary consumers and include some amphibians, reptiles and plant-eating mammals. Primary consumers eat primary producers.

    Secondary Consumers

    Carnivores (animals that eat meat) and omnivores (animal and plant eaters) are secondary consumers, and they eat the primary consumers. In a jungle, these secondary consumers include--among others--reptiles and birds.

    Tertiary Consumers

    Animals that eat secondary consumers are called tertiary consumers. In a jungle, these include large predators, such as jaguars.

    Decomposers

    Decomposers, included in a food web but not a food chain, are organisms--such as fungi, earthworms and bacteria--that break down energy in dead organisms. In a jungle, decomposers eat any dead plant or animal material.

    Source:

    Urban Ed Partnership: Food Chains and Webs

    Caribbean Edu: Jungle Safari

    Enchanted Learning: Rainforest Animals

    More Information:

    WetTropics: Rainforest Food Web (PDF)

    NatureWorks: Decomposers

    World-Builders: Tertiary Consumers

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