Question

What are the type of consumers? What are the criteria for their classification?

Answer 1

There are mainly four types of consumers in ecology and they are classified according to their position in the food chain - herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers.

Herbivores are the ones who only eat green plants, vegetables and other type of vegetation like cows, giraffes, elephants.

Carnivores are the ones who eat meat and flesh like lions, tigers, vultures, etc.

Omnivores are the ones who eat both plants and meat like bears, humans, etc.

Decomposers are those organisms which feed on dead plants and animals like fungi and bacteria.

Answer 2

Type of consumers of ecology can be classified as four types. They are

Herbivores

Carnivores

Omnivores

Decomposers

Herbivores and their criteria to be a consumer of the ecology:

Organisms that only feed on vegetables and greens plants are herbivores.  

Example: Cow.

Carnivores and their criteria to be a consumer of ecology:

Organism that only feed by killing other animals is carnivores. They can also be known as predators or carnivores.

Example: Lion

Omnivores and their criteria to be a consumer of ecology:

Organisms that can feed on both plants and animal’s meat are omnivores.

Example: Crow, humans

Decomposers and their criteria to be a consumer of ecology:

Organism that only feed on dead plants and animals decompose is known as decomposers.

Example: bacteria