1 © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com Investigation File Food Chains Properties of Food Chains W hat’s that animal roaming in the amazon rainforest? it has a r idge of bristly hair down the middle of its head and neck. its tail is a short stub, but its snout is long and flexible, like an elephant’s trunk. it can weigh up to 272 kilograms (600 lbs.) but is still a great swimmer. it’s a tapir (TaY-per)! Tapirs are important members of the rainforest food chain. They share their ecosystem with many plants and animals. Plants are producers —they get their energy from the sun. Tapirs are consumers—they must eat food to get energy. Tapirs use their snouts to strip leaves from trees and pick fruit. They also eat bromeliads (broh-MEE-lee-adds), a kind of tropical plant. Luckily for the tapir, there are many more producers than consumers. Tapirs need to be careful in the rainforest. They are hunted by a swift predator—the jaguar. Tapirs try to escape by crashing through dense brush, which is difficult for the jaguar to get through. sometimes, tapirs dive into deep water, where they can stay longer than the big cat can. But their biggest threat is people, who hunt the tapirs and destroy their habitat. Rainforest Roamer Credits: left: © Ingo Arndt/Minden Pictures right: © age fotostock/Superstock Tapirs may look like pigs, but they’re most closely related to horses and rhinos. jaguar File Amazon Rainforest SOUTH AMERICA All the animals in this food chain live in the Amazon rainforest, shown in green.
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© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com Investigation File
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What’s that animal roaming in the amazon rainforest? it has a ridge of bristly hair down the middle of its
head and neck. its tail is a short stub, but its snout is long and flexible, like an elephant’s trunk. it can weigh up to 272 kilograms (600 lbs.) but is still a great swimmer. it’s a tapir (TaY-per)!
Tapirs are important members of the rainforest food chain. They share their ecosystem with many plants and animals. Plants are producers—they get their energy from the sun. Tapirs are consumers—they must eat food to get energy. Tapirs use their snouts to strip leaves from trees and pick fruit. They also eat bromeliads (broh-MEE-lee-adds), a kind of tropical plant. Luckily for the tapir, there are many more
producers than consumers.
Tapirs need to be careful in the rainforest. They are hunted by a swift predator—the jaguar. Tapirs try to escape by crashing through dense brush, which is difficult for the jaguar to get through. sometimes, tapirs dive into deep water, where they can
stay longer than the big cat can. But their biggest threat is people, who hunt the tapirs and destroy their habitat.
Rainforest Roamer
Credits: left: © Ingo Arndt/Minden Pictures right: © age fotostock/Superstock
Tapirs may look like pigs, but they’re most closely related to horses and rhinos.
jaguarFile
Amazon Rainforest
SouTh AmericAAll the animals
in this food chain live in the Amazon rainforest, shown in green.
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Investigation File Food Chains } Properties of Food Chains } Amazon Rainforest
© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.sciencea-z.com
Credits: main left: © peruvianpictures.com/Alamy inset left: © Michael Doolittle/Alamy; center column, top to bottom, left to right (1): © David Plummer/Alamy; center column (2): © Ingo Arndt/Minden Pictures; center column (3): © Tim Laman/National Geographic Stock; center column (4): © Les Gibbon/Alamy; center column (5): © Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc./Visuals Unlimited/Corbis; top right: © Ryszard Laskowski/Dreamstime.com; bottom right: © Morley Read/Alamy; background right: © Pablo Hidalgo/Dreamstime.com
not all plants have roots in the ground. some bromeliads live on rainforest trees. These bromeliads are home to
a unique community.
The leaves of bromeliads form pockets, which catch water when it rains. Tree frogs lay
their eggs in these tiny pools. When the tadpoles hatch, they
consume algae growing in the pools. Bacteria
live in the pools, too. The bacteria are decomposers.
They break down organic material in
the tiny pools. This process releases nutrients, which are
used by producers. This entire community lives hidden within the leaves of bromeliads.
The laughing frog lays her eggs in a bromeliad. The tadpoles live there until they become frogs.
no animal wants to get in the path of army ants on the march. These ants live in huge groups called colonies. Each colony can have from ten thousand to several million ants!
not only do these animals live in colonies, but they find food as a group, too. sometimes the ants kill and eat their food, usually other insects. But they are also scavengers—consumers that dine on dead and dying animals. They make sure nothing is wasted.
Life in the Leaveson theAnts
March
energy moves from the Sun to producers to consumers in this food chain.
AN EXAMPLE OF AN AMAzON rAiNFOrEst FOOd ChAiN
primary consumer
tapir
producer
bromeliad
jaguar
secondary consumer
Sun
scavenger decomposer
bacteriaarmy ant
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