Food Chain:
A kangaroo rat eats the sagebrush, which is the producer. The kangaroo rat is a primary consumer because it ate the producer. Other examples of primary consumers could be small rodents, other types of rats and insects. When the kangaroo rat is eaten by a snake, the snake is then the predator and the rat is its prey. Other examples of small predators could be scorpions, lizards, and even tarantulas. The snake will receive the energy of the sagebrush and the rat. When the snake is eaten by a hawk, the hawk becomes larger predator and the snake becomes another prey. The hawk will receive the energy of the snake, rat, and sagebrush. The hawk is like many other large predators in the desert such as a kit foxes, falcons, and vultures. The food chain below shows this very food chain that was described above.
Food web:
A food chain is just one part of the entire food web. Below there is an example of a bigger chain reaction which is called a food web. There are two producers, the cactus and the grass. The primary consumers which are the rabbits, scorpions and the grasshoppers will get their energy from the producers and then transfer that energy into the small predator when they are consumed. The small predators are the lizards and the rattlesnakes. When they are eaten by the larger predators which are the roadrunners, coyotes, and hawks, their energy will be transferred to them. This flow of energy between animals makes up the food webs in all ecosystems.