Energy Flow

How it works Energy flows between organisms when one organism eats another.

Feeding Levels Producers Producers are autotrophs who manufacture their own food by using the sun’s energy. Consumers Consumers are heterotrophs who CANNOT manufacture their own food. They obtain energy from the food they eat.

Feeding Levels (cont.) Consumers (cont.) There are different types of consumers. A primary consumer (1°) eats producers. A secondary consumer (2°) eats primary consumers (1°). A third order consumer (3°) eats secondary consumers (2°). A fourth order consumer (4°) eats third order consumers (3°). And so on and so forth.

Consumers! More of them! Consumers are also classified by what they eat. Herbivores (eat plants) Carnivores (eat meat) Omnivores (eat both plants and meat) Scavengers (eat “leftovers”) Decomposers (break down dead organisms)

What is a food chain? A food chain is a sequence of how organisms obtain their food in an ecosystem. (When writing out a food chain, make sure the arrows are pointing toward the organisms that are gaining the energy.)

What is a food web? A food web shows interlinking and overlapping food chains.

Energy Pyramids MRS SCHEFF TOP CARNIVORES CARNIVORES HERBIVORES 20,000 Cal 2,000 Cal 200 Cal 20 Cal 2 Cal TOP CARNIVORES CARNIVORES HERBIVORES PRODUCERS Only about 10% of the energy gets transferred between levels because not all of the organism is consumed and some of the consumed energy is used to grow. Some energy is also lost as heat.