Producer, Consumer, Decomposer activity

Producers

Producers (or autotrophs) make their own food from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll by a process called photosynthesis. Green plants, Algae are producers.

Consumers

The organisms which consume the food made by the producers are called consumers.

Consumers do not make their own food.All animals and humans are consumers.

Examples: Man, Lion , Cow, Buffalo, Dog etc. are consumers.

All consumers (or heterotrophs ) can be divided into the following types-

• Herbivores
• Carnivores
• Omnivores
• Saprotrophs

• The organisms which eat plants or plant products for their food are called herbivores. Goat, Cow, Deer are herbivores.
• The organisms which eat only flesh of animals as their food are called carnivores. Lion, Jackal, Hawks, Tigers are carnivores.
• The organisms which derive their food from the dead and decaying animals/plants are called saprotrophs (or saprotrophs) . Mushrooms, Yeast , Bacteria are some common saprotrophs.

Decomposers

The organisms which decompose the dead remains of plants and animals to simple compounds are called decomposers. Decomposers help in maintaining the supply of nutrients to the growing plants in the forests.

Tiny mushroooms and insects , ants, beetles and many microorganisms ( called decomposers) exist on the decaying leaves on the forest floor. These organisms and decomposers feed themselves upon the dead plant and  animal tissues and convert them into dark coloured material called humus. Humus helps in the release of nutrients of the dead and decaying organic matter into the soil.