Food+Production

=**Humans Eat At All Trophic Levels**=

Everyday, only about 1 percent of solar energy reaching Earth's surface is used in photosynthesis. This is enough to produce 170 billion tons of organic material per year.
====The route food energy takes through a community of organisms is determined by the //__trophic structure__//, which is the pattern of feeding relationships in the community. They are also known as food chains, which consist of different levels. The first level is the **producers** which is mostly plants and other photosynthetic organisms that provide the energy for the bigger organisms. On land, plants are the main producers but in the water the main producers are phytoplankton.==== ====The second level is called the **consumers**. The //__primary consumers__// are those who consume the producers, and they are called //herbivores//. Some examples include grazing mammals, most insects, and most birds. In aquatic environments, the primary consumers are called zooplankton.====

====Above the primary consumers there is the trophic levels that are made of carnivores, meaning "meat eaters". Each level eats comsumers from lower levels. Secondary consumers eat primary consumers, tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers, and quarternary consumers eat tertiary consumers. An organism that dies before being eaten is consumed by decomposers, which break down the organic material into simpler substances that then act as nutrients for soil. Some common decompsers include earthworms, insects, fungi, and microorganisms.====

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