Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

Ecosystem and Energy Roles Ecosystem: all living & non-living things that interact in an environment Energy Role in an Ecosystem Determined by: How it obtains energy How it interacts with other living organisms in its ecosystem

Some Energy Roles The sun: provides energy Producers: harness energy from the sun ex. plants Consumers: organisms that eat something else ex. animals Decomposers: return energy to the environment ex. fungus, bacteria

Producers Plants harness energy from the sun through photosynthesis They are the base of every food chain Source of food for all other animals

Consumers 4 Types Herbivore: eats only plants Ex. Cows, horses Carnivore: eats only meat Ex. Polar bear Onmivore: eats plants and animals Ex. Humans, grizzly bears Scavenger: carnivore that feeds on bodies of dead organisms Ex. Vultures

Decomposer Decomposers break down wastes and dead organisms and return the raw materials to the environment Ex. Bacteria, fungi

Energy flow through biological systems

Food Chains Food Chain: series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy

Food Chains Continued Arrows always points in the direction of energy flow 1st organism is always the producer 2nd organism is the consumer that eats the producer Primary consumer 3rd organism is the consumer that eats the 1st level consumer Secondary consumer And so on…..

Energy Pyramid 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: energy is not transferred from one object/organism to the next with 100% efficiency Some of the energy is lost to the environment Energy Pyramid shows the amounts of energy that moves from one level to the next

Sample Energy Pyramid

Energy Transfer Only about 10% of energy is transferred from one level to the next The other 90% is used by the organism to carry out its life processes or it is lost to the environment