Mahika Agarwal

Mahika Agarwal

| Posted on: 17th Sep 2024

In a given ecosystem, food forms a web of interlocking chains with primary producers at the bottom and apex predators at the top.[14] Other aspects of the web include detrovores (that eat detritis) and decomposers (that break down dead organisms).[14] Primary producers include algae, plants, bacteria and protists that acquire their energy from sunlight.[15] Primary consumers are the herbivores that consume the plants, and secondary consumers are the carnivores that consume those herbivores. Some organisms, including most mammals and birds, diet consists of both animals and plants, and they are considered omnivores.[16] The chain ends with the apex predators, the animals that have no known predators in its ecosystem.[17] Humans are considered apex predators.[18]Humans are omnivores, finding sustenance in vegetables, fruits, cooked meat, milk, eggs, mushrooms and seaweed.[16] Cereal grain is a staple food that provides more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop.[19] Corn (maize), wheat, and rice account for 87% of all grain production worldwide.[20][21][22] Just over half of the world's crops are used to feed humans (55 percent), with 36 percent grown as animal feed and 9 percent for biofuels.[23] Fungi and bacteria are also used in the preparation of fermented foods like bread, wine, cheese and yogurt.[24]