Download Energy Flow in Ecosystems

Chapter 2 Lesson 1
» Producer
˃ Energy comes into most ecosystems in the form of sunlight
˃ Organisms that can use the energy of sunlight to make food via photosynthesis
are producers (plants, algae)
» Consumer
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Consume other organisms as a source of energy
Herbivores – eat only plants (cow)
Carnivores – eat only animals (coyote)
Omnivores – eat plants and animals (bear)
Scavenger – carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms (vulture)
» Decomposer
˃ Break down biotic wastes & dead organisms returning raw materials to the
ecosystem (bacteria, fungus)
» Energy moves through an
ecosystem when one
organisms eats another
» Food Chain
˃ Series of events where one organism eats
another obtaining energy
˃ Shows only one possible path along which
energy moves
» Food web
˃ Consists of many overlapping food chains
» Energy Pyramid
˃ Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to the
next.
˃ Most of the energy is available at the producer level and decreases as
it moves up the pyramid