Are plants in an ecosystem called consumers and what would happen if all plants were removed from an ecosystem?
Plants are considered producers since they can produce their own food from non-living sources through a process known as photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce organic compounds. These organic compounds become the energy source for many other organisms within an ecosystem. Without plants not only would we have no oxygen to breathe but we'd also have nothing to eat because all the animals that depend on plants would be gone. Without plants, life on Earth as we know it would be impossible because they provide food for humans, pets, and all wild animals.
@ RK, plants are not consumers, you rightly says they are producers. Actually consumers are herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers. If the plants or other producers of an ecosystem were removed, there would be no way for energy to enter the food web, and the ecological community would collapse.
Green plants are the source of energy for all organisms. If all green plants disappear from the earth, all the herbivores will die due to starvation and so will the carnivores who feed on herbivores. There will be no life left on the earth. If green plants disappear, there will be a scarcity of food in living organisms. Herbivores animals will die as green plants are the only source of energy for them. Gradually, if the food for a maximum of the living organisms is not present it will lead to the extinction of life on the earth's surface. Green plants are the source of energy for all organisms. If all green plants disappear from the earth, all the herbivores will die due to starvation and so will the carnivores who feed on herbivores. There will be no life left on the earth.Plants are considered producers since they can produce their own food from non-living sources through a process as photosynthesis. Instead they produce their own food by the process of photosynthesis. For this process plants need sunlight, minerals and nutrients, which they take up from the soil. Because of this plants are also referred to as primary consumers.