The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Consumers are sometimes synonymously known as heterotrophs ("other feeders"), although it is best to exclude decomposers from this group. Consumers include a diverse group of organisms that depend on plants and animals for their nutrition. Although most plants are autotrophs (primary producers), the insectivorous plants and a few protistan algae are heterotrophic. Consumers cannot synthesize their own organic matter, and are grouped within the food chain as primary consumers (herbivores), secondary consumers (primary carnivores), tertiary consumers (secondary carnivores), and so on. An example of this type of food chain in the terrestrial environment might include rabbits, weasels, foxes, and coyotes. A similar example in an aquatic ecosystem might include zooplankton, blue-gill sunfish, large-mouthed bass, and great-blue heron. Humans are consumers who often eat both vegetable and animal matter, and are known as omnivores. Detritivores are another consumer group comprised of organisms which feed on dead organic matter such as detritus.