Vocabulary
the process that allows plants to make their own food using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide
photosynthesis
organisms at the lowest level of a food web; they start the flow of energy
producers
the two producers of Mono Lake
benthic algae and planktonic algae
the amount of salt
salinity
consumers that eat producers
primary consumers
If brine flies and brine shrimp did not exist, the _________ consumers of Mono Lake would not exist
secondary
a chart that shows ALL the feeding relationships in an ecosystem
food web
consumers that eat herbivores
secondary consumers
this bird, and secondary consumer, only eats brine flies, not brine shrimp
snowy plovers
organisms that make their own food through photosynthesis
producers or autotrophs
organisms that break down dead organisms
decomposers
Caspian terns and coyotes can be classified as this kind of consumer because they eat these things
dead animals
organisms that cannot make their own food
consumers or heterotrophs
organisms that eat dead animals
detritivores
consumers like halobacteria are called ______ because they break down dead organisms
decomposers