1. Ecology & Environmental Problems Dr. Ron Chesser Lecture #14: Ecosystems and Ecosystems Management Reading: Chapter 6

2. What is an Ecosystem? The minimal collection of features that will support and sustain life.

3. Food Webs Example of a Food WebExample

4. Energy Flow and Food Webs A pond Ecosystem

5. Arctic Food Web

6. The Energy Pyramid in Ecosystems kcal/m 2 /year

7. Biomass Pyramid in Ecosystems

8. Pyramid of Numbers in an Ecosystem

9. Trophic Levels All organisms in a food web that are the same number of feeding levels away from the original source of energy (usually the sun).

10. Decomposers Fungi play an important role in the decomposition process converting organic matter back into basic inorganic chemicals.