Question

Differentiate between Producers and Consumers.

Answer 1

Hint: Ecosystem is a system in which every single organism interacts with each other and to its surrounding, living in a particular area. It includes both biotic and abiotic. Energy flow is the most important stage in the ecosystem which moves life. The cycle of energy is based on the flow of energy through different trophic levels of the ecosystem. There are producers and consumers in energy flow.

Complete answer:

Producers	Consumers
Producers are the living organisms which help to produce food from sunlight, soil and air.	Consumers are the living organisms which depend directly and indirectly on other organisms for their food.
Green plants are the producers who prepare food in their leaves with the help of photosynthesis. These are the main source of energy which pass on to the next trophic level.	Every consumer became a producer in other stages.
Every other organism is dependent on producers for their energy needs.	They don't prepare them for food.
In the terrestrial ecosystem, major producers are herbaceous and woody plants whereas in an aquatic ecosystem, major producers are phytoplankton, algae and higher plants.	They are dependent on producers for their energy source.
They have an autotrophic mode of nutrition.	They have heterotrophic mode of nutrition.

Note: In above we detailed the energy flow in the ecosystem where we get to know about the producers, consumers and food chain system.
A simple grazing food chain:
Grass $\stackrel{Producer}{\to }$ First trophic level $\to$ Goat $\underset{Consumer}{\overset{Primary}{\to }}$ Second trophic level $\to$ Man $\underset{Consumer}{\overset{Secondary}{\to }}$ Third trophic level.

Here, the grass is the producer which is providing food to the primary consumer (goat) at first trophic level. Then this goat is acting as a producer in the second trophic level to satisfy the needs of the secondary consumer (Man) and so on. This is the way energy flow occurs from producer to consumer.