How does energy move through an ecosystem? Energy moves from one organisms to another when it is eaten.

What are Trophic Levels Each step in this transfer of energy is know as a trophic level – The main trophic levels are producers, consumers, and decomposers

What is the Food Chains ? The energy flow from one trophic level to the other A food chain is simple and direct It involves one organism at each trophic level – Primary Consumers – eat producers – Secondary Consumers – eat the primary consumers – Tertiary Consumer-eat the secondary consumer – Decomposers – bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and recycle the material back into the environment

What is a Food Web Most organisms eat more than JUST one organism When more organism are involved it is known as a FOOD WEB Food webs are more complex and involve lots of organisms

Transfer of Energy When a zebra eats the grass, it does not obtain all of the energy the grass has (much of it is not eaten) When a lion eats a zebra, it does not get all of the energy from the zebra (much of it is lost as heat)

Law of Thermodynamics 2 nd 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

Energy Flow The ecological pyramid shows the relative amounts of energy or matter. Producers make up the first level Consumers make up the second, third and higher

Energy Flow Only about 10% of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level. The other 90% is used by the organism to carry out its life processes or it is lost to the environment Biomass is the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level.

Ecological Pyramid

Food Web: land and water connected

Food Web Notice that the direction the arrow points  the arrow points in the direction of the energy transfer, NOT “what ate what”

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

Ecological Pyramid An ecological pyramid shows the relationship between consumers and producers at different trophic levels in an ecosystem Shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained at each trophic level The Pyramid shows which level has the most energy and the highest number of organisms

Ecological Pyramid only 10% of energy is passed on through consumption

Ecological Pyramid Which level has the most energy? Which level has the most organisms? Which level has the least organisms? Which level has the least energy?