When we talk about energy transfer through food, we are referring to the trophic chain or food chain. This chain is made up of a trophic first level, in which we find the producing agency, followed by more levels that make up the different consuming organisms (there are up to four levels) and the chain ends with the decomponing organisms.
In this didactic Ecology article, we will show information about a specific trophic level, that of consumers, but more specifically, in depth will be discussed about tertiary consumers and some examples of food or trophic chains will be discussed in which these organisms can be identified well. So, if you want to discover everything about What are tertiary consumers and examples Of them, do not stop reading this article.
What are tertiary consumers
The tertiary consumer group is made up of Carnivorous speciesthat is to say, heterotrophic animals that obtain their energy consuming organic matter. This organic matter obtained by feeding on organisms that are secondary consumers, such as fox, coyote, snake and lion, among others. We advise you that, to better understand this topic of the type of feeding, you also consult this other post of ecology see on the heterotrophic organisms: what are, characteristics and examples.
Some characteristics of tertiary consumers are:
- They are carnivorous animals.
- Within the trophic levels constitute the fourth link.
- They control the population of secondary and indirectly consumers the rest of the trophic levels.
- Once dead they are matter for the feeding of the decomponeers. Know them better with this other post about what are the living beings decomposing with examples.
- In some ecosystems they can be predated by another superior consumer called quaternary.
Examples of tertiary consumers
Next, they are shown examples what are tertiary consumersexplaining some trophic or food chains:
- Sharks They are aquatic tertiary consumers who feed on mollusks, smaller fish, crustaceans, plankton and sometimes from other sharks.
- The herons They are birds that feed on amphibians, and amphibians of insects.
- The orcas are predators of the penguins, these feed on fish and in turn the fish feed on marine zooplankton.
- The tiger Considered the world’s largest feline is a superdedor and feeds on both large and small sizes since they are opportunistic, do not despise any kind of prey.
- The fox He is a secondary or tertiary consumer, since sometimes he feeds on primary consumers such as hares, but also of omnivorous animals such as geese.
- Seals and marine lions They have a very varied diet, depending on the species, but in general they are animals that feed on different types of fish, thus belonging to tertiary consumers.
- The black pantheranother great feline, is a carnivorous animal that feeds on large dams such as deer and also small dams such as frogs, mice, fish and birds.
Why in ecosystems there are few tertiary consumers
In ecosystems there are few tertiary and quaternary consumersthis is because they are the ones that produce less energy, but more energy consume. In a food chain there is a Energy flow From one link to another losing energy, which is why there must be more producers than primary consumers, less secondary consumers than primary consumers and less tertiary consumers than secondary.
As mentioned before, tertiary and quaternary consumers consume a lot of energy, but being at the last levels of the trophic chain to these, less energy comes, since the initial energy produced by the producers is lost from one level to another and, as a consequence, there are less number of tertiary and quaternary consumers since they barely reach energy or have to cover the food need for higher consumers. To understand this we better put An example:
The plants (producers) of all the energy they obtain use 90% of this for growth and the remaining 10% passes to primary consumers. Therefore, of 1000 calories that the plant has, only 100 calories pass to the next level. Of the 100 calories only 10% of these pass to the secondary consumer, that is, 10 calories, and the same goes for tertiary consumers, reaching these only 1 calorie of the initial energy that the producers captured.
In conclusion, we can say that large populations of producers are needed so that when energy reaches the highest levels, occupied by tertiary and quaternary consumers, they obtain the necessary energy to grow and reproduce.
Other consuming organisms
As we have seen, several trophic levels are differentiated in the food chain: producers, consumers and decomponers. However, within the consumer group You can see different types. Here we have talked about tertiary consumers, but in this section we will briefly explain the rest of the consumers of a Trophic chain or of the trophic pyramid:
- Primary consumers: They are herbivorous animals that to feed consume producing organisms. Here you can learn everything about primary consumers: what are and examples.
- Secondary consumers: They are carnivorous animals that feed on primary consumers. In this link you can know in depth the secondary consumers: what are and examples.
- Quaternary consumers: These are animals that are in the highest part of the trophic pyramid and consume tertiary consuming organisms to obtain their energy. They are also known as “superdedors”, because other predators that are superior to them do not be stalked, but other quaternary or, sometimes, by other opportunistic predators. The human being is a clear example of this level of consumers.
- Parasites: These are both plants and animals that bind to their prey so that they feed on this for a long time. The process, normally, does not entail the death of the dam, because the parasite needs to continue taking advantage of this matter, although it can weaken it a lot.
If you want to expand your knowledge on this subject more, we offer you this other article about the trophic relationships of ecosystems: definition and examples.
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