Food Webs

Food webs are different from food chains, because they include all the food chains in a habitat. Every habitat has many organisms that depend on one another for food. All the organisms are connected. In a food web, an organism might be food for more than one organism.

Organisms are separated into three groups based on what they eat. Herbivores are organisms that eat plants. Carnivores are organisms that eat animals. Omnivores are organisms that eat both plants and animals.

The simple food chain in which plants become food for insects and insects become food for birds would be one part of a food web. Look at this example of a food web of a North American desert habitat. Can you see how the food chains connect?

A concept web is a graphic organizer with a main subject. This web shows how organisms in the North American desert are connected. The arrows point from the organism being consumed to the organism that is eating it. View Larger Image