Download Energy Flow In Ecosystems Notes

Energy Flow
In
Ecosystems
Notes
Producers
▪ Sunlight is the main source of
energy for life on Earth
▪ Organisms that capture energy
from sunlight or chemicals and
use that energy to produce food
are called autotrophs.
– They make their own food
▪ Also called producers.
Producers
▪ Plants use photosynthesis to
produce food from the energy
they capture from the sun.
▪ Land - best autotrophs are
plants
▪ Freshwater - best autotrophs
are algae.
▪ Some autotrophs produce
energy without light
– They use a process
called chemosynthesis
Consumers
▪ Many organisms animals, fungi, and many
bacteria - can only
acquire energy from
other organisms.
▪ These animals are called
heterotrophs.
▪ Also called consumers.
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Types of consumers
Feeding Relationships
▪ Energy flows through an
ecosystem in one direction,
from the sun or inorganic
compounds to autotrophs
(producers) and then to various
heterotrophs (consumers)
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Food Chains
▪ Food Chain: a series of
steps in which organisms
transfer energy by eating
and being eaten.
▪ Most ecosystems are
complex, too complex to
be represented in a food
chain.
Food Webs
– To represent the
complex feeding
relationship in an
ecosystem, food
webs are used.
– Food webs link all
food chains in an
ecosystem together.
Food Webs
▪ Trophic Levels: each
step in a food chain
or food web.
– Producers make up
the first level
– Consumers make up
the second
(secondary) , third
(tertiary), or higher
levels.
How Ecosystems
Work Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_RBHfjZsUQ&list=UU1nf2pzxQRKrFUfrUAwp4oA