It's All Connected!
 The sun shines down on the plants, giving them energy to grow. |
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 A squirrel eats the plant's seeds. The seeds give the squirrel energy to grow and survive. |
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The squirrel gets eaten by a goshawk and provides the energy the goshawk needs to survive. Eventually, the goshawk dies, decomposes and becomes part of the soil and provides nutrients for the plants. |
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What's in It for the Plants?
 The goshawk helps keep the squirrel population in balance. If there were too many squirrels, they might eat all the plant seeds! As the squirrel gathers seeds, it stores some just below the surface of the ground, it drops some and loses others. When this happens, the squirrel is helping to spread the seeds of the plant to new areas. Eventually, the squirrel and the goshawk die. Their decomposing bodies provide nutrients that make the soil richer and help other plants to grow.
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