The transfer of energy from organism to organism forms a series called a food chain. All the possible feeding relationships that exist in a biome make up its food web. In the rain forest, as elsewhere, the food web consists of producers, consumers, and decomposers. An analysis of the food web shows how energy is transferred within the biome.

Green plants are the primary producers in the forest. They produce organic materials from inorganic chemicals and outside sources of energy, primarily the Sun. Trees and other plants turn energy into plant matter.

Animals are consumers. Plant-eating animals, such as certain insects and mice, are the primary consumers in the rain forest food web. Secondary consumers, such as ant eaters, eat the plant-eaters. Tertiary consumers are the predators, like owls and leopards. Some, such as orangutans and humans are also omnivores.

Decomposers, which feed on...