Download Ecosystem Components

Ecosystem Components
BIOTIC Components of an
Ecosystem
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PRODUCERS
CONSUMERS
DECOMPOSERS (type of Consumer)
PRODUCERS (autotrophs)
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Terrestrial: Green plants
Aquatic: Phytoplankton (floating and drifting
protists & cyanobacteria)
Use SUNLIGHT to make their own food via
Photosynthesis—the conversion of sunlight
energy into Stored/Potential/Chemical
energy (Glucose)
Photosynthesis
Chemiosynthesis
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Some bacteria can make food without
sunlight! These specialize producer
Bacteria convert Hydrogen Sulfide and
CO2 into organic compounds (like sugar)
in Hydrothermal vents powered by the
heat of the Earth.
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http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/learning/player/lesson05.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGF3XS-yAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLOUFrncG7E
CONSUMERS (Heterotrophs)
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--All other organisms in an Ecosystem
fall into this category. (Decomposers
are a TYPE of Consumer, technically)
--Organisms that get their organic
nutrition from feeding off Producers or
other Consumers.
Classes of Consumers:
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Herbivores:
Carnivores:
Omnivores:
Detritivores: (Detritus Feeders: ie: Bark Beetle,
Termite)—Directly consume fragments of dead
organic material
– Decomposers (Fungi & Bacteria): Digest Complex
organic compounds in fragments of the organic
material (in this case, log) into simpler, inorganic
compounds—plant nutrients in soil.
Cell Respiration:
• Both PRODUCERS and CONSUMERS use the process
of CELL RESPIRATION to release the stored energy in
organic compounds, such as Carbohydrates (glucose) to
power their cells.
• In this process, Glucose is converted back into Carbon
Dioxide and Water as waste products.
• Matter flows in an ecosystem:
• Energy flows in an ecosystem:
NonLiving Parts of an
Ecosystem:
• Range of Tolerance for a Species:
• Threshold Effect:
• Limiting Factor Principle in an Ecosystem: