Ecological niche Black bears play an important part in ecosystems due to their effects on fruits and insects. They help spread the seeds of any plants that they eat and they also eat many moth larvae and colonial insects controlling their population growth.

American black bears are a great example of why we need food webs. Black bears are omnivores, so they eat berries and other plants making them primary consumers, but they also eat meat so they could also occupy the secondary consumer or predator tier in some ecosystems.

In fact, black bears are the LEAST predacious species of all North American carnivores. Biologically speaking, black bears are omnivores but they are primarily vegetarians. Black bears are opportunistic feeders and are quite lazy when it comes to finding food.

Humans, mountain lions, wolves and brown bears are the only predators of American black bears.