NOTES 33 – Habitat & Niche Where do organisms live and how do they get their energy?

1. NOTES 33 – Habitat & NicheWhere do organisms live and how do they get their energy?

2. Habitat–The place where an organism lives out its life • Habitats are divided into separate niches

3. Niche–The role a species plays in a community. This includes the space where it lives, food it eats, and the other ways a species affects itsenvironment. • A niche is kind of like an organism’s job

4. Stream Fish Niches

5. Barnacle Niches

6. Different Niches – organisms can be categorized into different niches based on how they get their energy • Autotroph (producer) – an organism that makes its own food using energy from the sun • Ex. plants make glucose

7. Different Niches – organisms can be categorized into different niches based on how they get their energy • Heterotroph (consumer) – an organism that gets its energy by eating another organism • Ex. animals, most bacteria, fungi

8. herbivore – a heterotroph that eats only plants • Ex. Cow

9. carnivore – a heterotroph that hunts, kills, and eats animals • Ex. Lion

11. Insectivore (Carnivore)

12. Insectivore (Carnivore)

13. Piscivore (Carnivore)

14. omnivore – a heterotroph that eats both plants and animals • Ex. Human

15. scavenger – a heterotroph that eats dead organisms • Ex. Vulture

16. decomposer – a heterotroph that gets energy by breaking down dead organisms into tiny nutrient molecules • Ex. Bacteria

17. Without decomposers there would be piles of dead organisms everywhere!