Primary consumers: What are and examples

Primary consumers: What are and examples

By Dr. Kyle Muller

When talking about trophic chain or food chain, reference is made to the transfer of food energy. The chain is formed by a first trophic level that are the producers, the different types of consumers are followed and the last level with the decomponers ends.

In this interesting ecology article, information about a single trophic level, that of consumers will be shown, especially will be discussed in detail of primary consumers and some examples of trophic chains and their position will be shown. Keep reading and know What are primary consumers and examples of these.

What are primary consumers

The set of primary consumers is made up of herbivorous speciesthat is to say, heterotrophic animals They feed on organic matter to obtain energy. This organic matter is elaborated by the producers, which are autotrophic organisms, such as photosynthetic plants, photosynthetic bacteria or cheminentizing chemos -intertineer bacteria. Producers within the Food chain They are the first link or the base and primary consuming organisms They would be the second link in the chain and, in turn, the first link within the set of consumers.

We recommend that to better understand these concepts, you also consult these other ecology articles about the difference between autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms with heterotrophic examples and organisms: what are, characteristics and examples.

Examples of primary consumers

Would you know how to say What are primary consumers inside a trophic chain? Next, some examples of trophic chains with some of them will be exhibited.

  • Some ORUGAS They feed on plants, and these same caterpillars will serve as food for some smaller bird species. Small birds are predated by larger birds such as hawk or eagle and these when they die will be decomposed by fungi and bacteria.
  • The rabbits They are herbivorous animals that feed on grass and plants, and these are food of foxes and other medium -sized carnivorous species. When they die, they become the food of some scavenging birds, such as the chicken.
  • The snails They are primary consumers who feed on leaves and plants and are food of mice, being these secondary consumers who end up being the food of snakes, which in this example of a trophic chain would be tertiary consumers. Thus, if, for example, you wonder if the mouse is primary or secondary consumer, keep in mind that it is cataloged as a secondary consumer because it is an omnivorous animal.
  • Some insects, such as lobsterbeing primary consumers feed on leaves, and these insects will be food of insectivorous toads and snake food toads. Snakes can be consumed by some species of mammals such as tender, foxes, coyotes, among others.
  • The sheep They feed on grass, these are prisoners of Puma, Jaguars and Wolves, secondary consumers, and when they die end up decomposing by the action of bacteria and fungi.
  • The Butterfliesprimary consumers feed on the nectar of flowers and are consumed by insects such as religious mantis, which in turn is the food of bats that end up being predated by snakes.
  • Different varieties of herbs are food of zebraswho are primary consumers, and prevented by lions or crocodiles.

They also exist Marine primary consumers And these are some of the trophic chains in which we can find them.

  • The phytoplankton, a producer that we find in the sea is the food of small maracostraceous crustaceans, these are eaten by smaller fish, which will be predated by others of larger size such as the sardine, and the sardine predated by the barracuda. When they die they are decomposed by scavengers like other decomponent crustaceans.
  • He Marine phytoplankton Zooplankton is consumed and this by species such as mussels, which will serve as food for crabs and in turn will be devoured by seagulls.
  • The marine phytoplankton serves as food for zooplankton, which is food for small fish and these are consumed by penguins predated by the whales.

Primary consumers: What are and examples - examples of primary consumers

If half of primary consumers disappear what would happen?

The primary consumers or herbivorous animals feed on biomassif these disappear would cause Great imbalances in the ecosystem:

  • For example, many plant species manage to disseminate their seeds thanks to herbivorous animals, the absence of these would limit these plant species to spread and can be at risk of disappearing.
  • However, not only would it have consequences for plant species, also for omnivores and carnivores that feed on animals that are primary consumers, since these could be extinguished by not having how to feed, thus producing a chain extinction because if they were greatly reduced or both primary and secondary consumers disappear, it would also affect the same way to the upper consumers.

Other consuming organisms

In the trophic chain different trophic levels are distinguished: Producers, consumers and decomponers, but within consumers you can find different types. It is this article we have talked about primary consumers, although in this section we will briefly talk about the rest of the consumers:

  • Secondary consumers: They are carnivorous animals that feed on beings that are primary consumers.
  • Tertiary consumers: These are carnivorous animals that base their food on other primary and secondary consumers, but they barely have predators.
  • Quaternary consumers: They are animals that are at the top of the trophic pyramid and feed on all consumers. These consumers can be known as superdedors and are not stalked by other predators. An example of this consumer would be the human being.
  • Parasites: They are plants or animals that are linked to its prey to feed on it for a long time, normally without killing it, although it can weaken it a lot.

Below you can see an example of a pyramid of primary, secondary and tertiary or higher consumers. In addition, we invite you to read these other posts so that you learn more about the trophic relationships of ecosystems: definition and examples, what are trophic networks and examples and also trophic levels: what are, what are and examples.

Primary consumers: what are and examples - other consuming organisms

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Kyle Muller
About the author
Dr. Kyle Muller
Dr. Kyle Mueller is a Research Analyst at the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department in Houston, Texas. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University in 2019, where his dissertation was supervised by Dr. Scott Bowman. Dr. Mueller's research focuses on juvenile justice policies and evidence-based interventions aimed at reducing recidivism among youth offenders. His work has been instrumental in shaping data-driven strategies within the juvenile justice system, emphasizing rehabilitation and community engagement.
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