Every Ecosystem....

    An *ecosystem* is a community of organisms interacting with each other and their environment. Almost every single ecosystem is dependant upon the sun's energy as a primary source of energy for life to exist. Every ecosystem (or most) have the same structure. Without the sunlight, the organisms in the environment, plants, herbivores, and carnivores, could not survive. The sunlight provides heat energy for the plants to absorb, and the plants, through the process of photosynthesis, turn the heat energy into food energy. The herbivores can eat this, allowing them to survive and providing the carnivores who cannot digest plant material with something to eat. Actually, only ten to twenty percent of energy ingested is available to the next consumer on the food chain.

    An organized form of the food chain that classifies animals according to what they eat is called The Trophic Pyramid. In this pyramid are five levels displayed in a triangular shape. The levels increase in size as the Trophic Pyramid continues up. In a healthy ecosystem, the levels decrease by a power of ten, as the levels rise. For example, the bottom level may have 10,000 plants, then the second level would have 1,000, the third would have 100, the fourth 10, and the fifth 1.

    The five levels of the Trophic Pyramid, and their definitions are displayed above:

• Primary Producers (autotrophs/plants/phytoplankton) The Primary Producers are organisms that provides for other animals to eat. An autotroph, or plant, is an organism that makes it's own food.
• Primary Consumers (herbivores/scavengers) The primary Consumers are animals, such as herbivores, that eat plants or autotrophs, and scavengers that eat either dead plant or animal material that they have not actually killed.
• Secondary Consumers (smallest carnivores) The Secondary Consumers are the smallest carnivores; animals that eat only animal tissue because they are unable to obtain nutrients from plant matter, and omnivores; animals that eat both plants and animals.
• Teritiary (medium carnivores)
• Apex predator; the larget meat- eating predator in the ecosystem.

    The Lowland Anoa is classified in the second level of the Trophic Pyramid; the Primary Producers.

    The Anoa's ecosystem is endangered just as much as the Anoa itself. This is due to factors both natural and human, but mostly natural.

                         Apex Predator

                       Teritiary Consumer

                     Secondary Consumer

                     Primary Consumer

                                                                           Primary Producers