FeedingGuilds: Difference between revisions
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===Feeding Guilds=== | ===Feeding Guilds=== | ||
As Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it, a feeding guild is “a group of organisms that use the same ecological resource in a similar way”. In simpler terms, feeding guilds can be described as groups of living things that get their energy necessary to survive from the same source. Feeding guilds do not have to be made up of the same or similar species; they can be completely unrelated, only alike in the fact that they acquire resources from their surroundings in similar ways. Because members of a guild use the same resources, competition is common within that guild. | As Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it, a feeding guild is “a group of organisms that use the same ecological resource in a similar way”<ref>"Guild." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guild><ref>. In simpler terms, feeding guilds can be described as groups of living things that get their energy necessary to survive from the same source. Feeding guilds do not have to be made up of the same or similar species; they can be completely unrelated, only alike in the fact that they acquire resources from their surroundings in similar ways. Because members of a guild use the same resources, competition is common within that guild. | ||
A feeding guild is composed of three major categories: autotrophs, heterotrophs, and detritivores. | A feeding guild is composed of three major categories: autotrophs, heterotrophs, and detritivores. | ||
Revision as of 18:23, 15 April 2014
Feeding Guilds and Trophic Levels
Feeding Guilds
As Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it, a feeding guild is “a group of organisms that use the same ecological resource in a similar way”Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag All organisms can be divided into three different categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers. [1][2]
Autotrophs
Autotrophs are primary producers, "self-nourishing organisms capable of absorbing solar energy and photosynthetically building high-energy organic substances" [1] A classic example of an autotroph on the reef are zooxanthellae.
Heterotrophs
Heterotrophs are consumers that feed upon other organisms.
Herbivores
Herbivores feed primarily upon autotrophs.
Carnivores
Carnivores feed upon other animals. On the reef, carnivores can feed upon other fish, coral, other creatures like mollusks, etc.
Omnivores
Omnivores consume both autotrophs and other heterotrophs.
Filter/Suspension feeders
Filter feeders primarily consume organic material (pseudo-plankton) floating in the water column.[2] Organic matter can take the form of particulate organic matter (POM), suspended organic matter (SOM), or dissolved organic matter (DOM). [1]
Planktivores
Planktivores eat the small organisms (collectively known as plankton) that drift in the water column. They can herbivorous and consume primarily phytoplankton, or they can be zooplanktivores that consume suspended animals. [2] Phytoplankton are single-celled microscopic organisms and "account for the major share of primary productivity in the marine environment." Cyanobacteria, chrysophyta, and dinophyta form the three major groups of phytoplankton. [1]
Opportunistic feeders
This group targets prey based on what is available at the time. Scavengers and cannibals are included in this group. [2]
Parasites
Parasites "live on or in another organism", taking their nutrition from the host organism while giving nothing in return. [2]
Detritivores
Detritovores are decomposers like bacteria that feed upon the waste products and dead remains of other organisms. [1]