Download Ecosystem Pyramid - Effingham County Schools

Ecological Hierarchy
I. Individual
organism
II. Population
III.Community
IV.Ecosystem
V. Biome
VI.Biosphere
Ecological Hierarchy
II. Population: same species living in an area
• Species = group of similar organisms that can
interbreed
• Example: all the Giant pandas in a forest
III. Community: group of different populations
living in same area
• Example: All the different plants & animals in a forest
with the panda
•
Ecosystem: all the living and nonliving factors that make up an area
Ecological Hierarchy
V. Biome: Ecosystems with similar climates
and communities
– Examples: forest, desert, grassland, ocean,
etc.
VI. Biosphere:
all ecosystems on earth
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
❧ Ultimate source of
energy = sun
❧ Plants, algae, & some
bacteria capture solar
energy - perform
photosynthesis
❧ Organelle that
performs
photosynthesis =
chloroplast (pigment
inside = chlorophyll)
Photosynthesis
• Performed by producers = an
organism that makes its own food via
photosynthesis*
– Aka autotrophs
From producers to ….
• Consumer = an organism that gets
energy by eating other organisms
– Aka heterotroph
• Producers & Consumers convert sugar
into usable energy through cellular
respiration
– Organelle that performs cellular
respiration = mitochondria
Consumers can be
categorized by…
❧What is eats:
❧ Herbivore: eats producers
❧ Carnivore: eats other consumers
❧ Omnivore: eats producers &
consumers
❧ Scavenger: eats dead large animals
❧ Decomposer: breaks down dead
producers & consumers (bacteria &
fungi)
Consumers are Categorized by
Trophic Level
❧In a food chain/ web,
each step is called a
trophic level
❧Producers = 1st trophic
level
❧Herbivores = primary
consumers = 2nd trophic
level
❧Carnivores &
Omnivores = secondary
consumers – 3rd trophic
level
❧And so forth…
Trophic Level Energy Loss
❧Energy flows through environment (sun →
organisms → space)
❧Energy is lost as it flows (according to 2nd Law
of Thermodynamics)
❧At each trophic level:
❧ 90% of energy from food is used for life functions
(ex: movement, growth, reproduction, homeostasis)
❧ Some energy is lost as heat
❧ Remaining 10% energy becomes part of
organism’s body & is available to next trophic
level
Energy Pyramids
❧ Each layer of pyramid
represents a trophic level
❧ Only 10% of energy makes
it to next level
❧ B/c so much energy is lost
at each level, there are
fewer organisms as go up
❧ Loss of energy limits the #
of tropic levels in
ecosystems
Fill-in
pyramid
level titles
into your
notes!
❧ Usually have less than 5
Example: a single lion needs ~250 km2 of land to hunt
Ecosystem Pyramid
• Choose an organism
and illustrate a pyramid
about the organism
• Include biosphere,
biome, ecosystem,
community, population,
and species.
• Provide a
definition/description of
each level
• See example for
assistance 