Biotic Factors a. Functioning of Ecosystems A. Food chains and food webs 1. Food Chains - order in which organisms in an ecosystem are consumed 2. Omnivores - both plant and flesh eaters B. Classifying consumers by their position in the food chain 1. Primary consumers eat producers 2.
Secondary consumers eat primary consumers, etc.
First trophic level - producer b. Thus, the Food Web - all feeding interactions in the ecosystem D. Flow of energy and matter through the ecosystem 1. As energy is lost, matter becomes more and more disorganized with less energy trapped within. The total amount of energy in any given trophic level of the food chain gets smaller and smaller as one progresses up the food chain. Each trophic level contains less and less biomass as one proceeds up the food chain 3.