Download food chain

Ecosystems
Food Chains/Webs, Energy Pyramids,
Symbiotic Relationships Predatory-Prey
Interaction, & Competitions
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Ecology
Study of how organisms
INTERACT with each other and
their environment.
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Life Levels and Organization
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Biosphere
• The biosphere is the
outermost part of the
planet’s shell —
including air, land,
surface rocks, and
water — within which
life occurs, and which
biotic processes in turn
alter or transform.
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Biome
• A biome is a major regional group of
distinctive plant and animal communities
best adapted to the region's physical
natural environment, latitude, elevation,
and terrain.
• Examples of biomes include the desert,
rain forest, arctic tundra, grassland,
coniferous forest, deciduous forest, and
oceans.
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Coral Reef Ecosystems
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Yellowstone National Park
Ecosystem
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Ecosystems
• All the biotic (living) and abiotic
(nonliving) factors that will INTERACT
with each other in some subset of the
biosphere.
• Abiotic factors: soil, water,
temperature, elevation, and location on
the earth.
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Explain
• Community
–
–
Groups of many different species of organisms
interacting in a particular area (predator prey
relationships)
Only the biotic factors that interact between
different species of organisms
• Population
–
A group of organisms of ONE species that
interbreed and live in the same place at the same
time.
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Producer (autotroph)
• Producers
(autotrophs) are
always at the base
of the chain.
Producers are
organisms that make
their own food.
Plants are producers.
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Herbivore
• Herbivores are
animals that
only eat plants.
• Ex. Cow & deer
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Omnivore
• An omnivore
eats both plants
and animals.
• Ex. Humans &
bears
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Carnivore
• Animals that
eat meat are
carnivores.
• Ex. Lion & wolf
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Decomposer
• A decomposer eats dead or dying
organisms.
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Producers and Consumers
• So…producers make their own
food (e.g., photosynthesis) and
consumers don’t.
• Is a dog a producer or a
consumer?
• Is a termite a producer or a
consumer?
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Food Chain
• A food chain
shows how the
energy in food
is passed from
one organism
to another in
an ecosystem.
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Describe the Food Chain
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Describe the Food Chain
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Food Webs
• Many food chains
interacting with each
other.
• The arrow always points
away from the organism
being eaten to the
organism doing the
eating.
• Shows the movement of
energy and matter in an
ecosystem.
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Energy Pyramid
• Sun major
supplier of the
earth’s energy.
• Most of the
energy released
is lost in the
form of heat.
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The Flow of Energy
• Producers - Plants capture the sun’s energy
and store it in food
• Primary Consumers (herbivores) - Animals
that receive their energy directly from plants
• Secondary Consumers (carnivores) Consumers that feed on primary consumers
• Energy flows from the sun to the producer,
then to the primary consumer, then to the
secondary consumer, third level consumers,
forth level consumers, etc...
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Pyramid of Numbers
• Carnivore populations are smaller in
comparison to the rest of the ecosystem.
• They require more food to sustain their
lives than the lower organisms.
• The amount of usable energy that is
transferred from trophic level to trophic
level only 10%.
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Explain
• Competition for limited food, water, and
space resources, which results in some
organisms not being able to get enough
resources for survival
• Predator-prey interaction occur when a
predator captures and eats prey for
food.
• Symbiosis which are long-term, close
relationships between species.
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Symbiotic Relationships
• Mutualism is a relationship in which
both species mutually benefit.
• Commensalism is a relationship in which
one species benefits while the other
species is affected.
• Parasitism is a relationship in which one
species benefits while the other is
harmed.
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PowerPoint information provided by
Xtreem Science at
www.coe.unt.edu/tegs
and Gateway to Science – Grade 8
Created By:
Makayla James
McCowan Middle School
James, 2009