Download For all organisms there must be

What is an ecosystem?
• all living & non-living things that
interact in an environment
What are the rules of an ecosystem?
1. Everything is connected to everything
else.
2. Everything must go somewhere in an
environment
What is energy?
• The ability to do work.
• All living things need energy
to survive.
Why is energy important to an
ecosystem?
• All organisms require energy for growth,
maintenance, reproduction, locomotion, etc..
• For all organisms there must be:
1. A source of energy
2. A loss of usable energy
What is the ultimate source of
all energy in any ecosystem?
• The SUN
• Without it, the most basic forms of life
would not exist
Energy Flow Key Terms
 Autotroph
 Omnivore
 Producer
 Decomposer
 Photosynthesis
 Food
 Heterotroph
 Consumer
 Herbivore
 Carnivore
web
 Trophic level
 Ecological
pyramid
 Biomass
What are producers?
• Organism that make their own
food by capturing energy from
the sun.
• Lowest part of the cycle
• Also called autotrophs
• EX: Plants, green algae, some bacteria
How do some organisms make
their own food?
• Photosynthesis is the process that
organisms use to make their food from the
sun’s light.
What are consumers?
• Consumers are organisms that feed on
other organisms.
• Cannot acquire energy from the sun
• Energy flows from sun to organism to
organism
• Also called heterotrophs
Different types of heterotrophs:
• Herbivores - Vegetation
• Omnivores - Meat and Vegetation
• Carnivores – Meat
• Scavengers – meat and decaying meat
• Detritivores - Decaying organic matter
What is a primary consumer?
• A primary consumer is an organism that
eats the producer. Like a rabbit that eats
a carrot.
• Also called Herbivores – only eats plants
What are secondary consumers?
Organisms that feed on primary
consumers are secondary
consumers.
Also called Carnivores
Ex. A wolf that eats a rabbit
Consumers can be further
divided into groups:
•
•
•
•
quaternary consumer (top)
tertiary consumer
secondary consumer
Primary consumer
The last consumer in a chain,
which is not usually eaten by
any other consumer, is often
referred to as the
top consumer.
What are decomposers?
• organisms that feed on dead organism,
break them down into simple nutrients or
fertilizers.
• Also called Detritivores
• EX: fungi and bacteria
What do you
think?
Consumer or producer?
Consumer or producer?
What are they also called?
Primary or secondary
consumers?
What are they also called?
Primary or secondary
consumers?
What are they also called?
Primary or secondary producer?
Producer, consumer, or
decomposer?
How is energy move through
an ecosystem?
• Energy moves from one organisms to
another when it is eaten.
What are Trophic Levels
• Each step in this transfer of energy is know
as a trophic level
– The main trophic levels are producers, consumers,
and decomposers
What is the Food Chains ?
• The energy flow from one trophic level to
the other
• A food chain is simple and direct
• It involves one organism at each trophic
level
– Primary Consumers – eat producers
– Secondary Consumers – eat the primary
consumers
– Tertiary Consumer-eat the secondary
consumer
– Decomposers – bacteria and fungi that break
down dead organisms and recycle the
material back into the environment
What is a Food Web
• Most organisms eat
more the JUST one
organism
• When more organism
are involved it is know
as a FOOD WEB
• Food webs are more
complex and involve
lots of organisms
Transfer of Energy
• When a zebra eats the grass, it does not
obtain all of the energy the grass has (much
of it is not eaten)
• When a lion eats a zebra, it does not get all
of the energy from the zebra (much of it is
lost as heat)
Law of Thermodynamics
2nd Law of Thermodynamics: energy is
not transferred from one object/organism
to the next with 100% efficiency.
Some of the energy is lost to the environment.
Energy Pyramid shows the amounts of
energy that moves from one level to the
next
Energy Flow
• The ecological
pyramid shows the
relative amounts of
energy or matter.
• Producers make up
the first level
• Consumers make up
the second, third
and higher
Energy Flow
• Only about 10% of the
energy available within
one trophic level is
transferred to organisms
at the next trophic level.
• The other 90% is used by
the organism to carry out
its life processes or it is
lost to the environment
• Biomass is the total
amount of living tissue
within a given trophic
level.
Ecological Pyramid
Energy Flow
Food Web: land and water
connected
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=0NcJ_63z-mA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YRM
Food Chain
Food Web
• Notice that the direction the arrow
points  the arrow points in the
direction of the energy transfer,
NOT “what ate what”
Energy Transfer
• Only about 10% of energy is transferred from
one level to the next
• The other 90% is used by the organism to carry
out its life processes or it is lost to the
environment
Food Web
Ecological Pyramid
• An ecological pyramid shows the relationship
between consumers and producers at
different trophic levels in an ecosystem
• Shows the relative amounts of energy or
matter contained at each trophic level
• The Pyramid shows which level has the most
energy and the highest number of organisms
Ecological Pyramid
only 10% of energy is passed
on through consumption
Ecological Pyramid
•
•
•
•
Which
Which
Which
Which
level
level
level
level
has
has
has
has
the
the
the
the
most energy?
most organisms?
least organisms?
least energy?