JASON Digital Lab: Earth Systems: Food Web

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JASON Digital Lab: Earth Systems: Food Web
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Food is energy, and energy makes life possible. All living things must nourish themselves in order to survive. Because many animals nourish themselves by eating plants or other animals, a food chain is created. Food chains do not exist in isolation, but form an intricate network of interrelationships—a food web.

Plants are the first stage (or trophic level) of a food chain. Plants are called producers (or autotrophs—"self-feeders") because they produce energy from simple raw materials, such as sunlight and inorganic nutrients.

As soon as an animal eats a plant, a food chain is formed. All animals are heterotrophs ("other-feeders"), since they find energy by consuming other living things.

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