Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

1. Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

2. Energy Flow • Energy in an ecosystem originally comes from the sun • Energy flows through Ecosystems from producers to consumers • Producers (make food) • Consumers (use food by eating producers or other consumers)

3. Producers • Sunlight is the main source of energy for most life on earth. • Producers contain chlorophyll & can use energy directly from the sun

4. Autotrophs • An Autotroph is any organism that can produce its own food supply! • Autotrophs are also called Producers • Plants, algae, some protists, & some bacteria are examples

5. Niche of a Producer • Captures energy and transforms it into organic, stored energy for the use of living organisms. • May be photoautotrophs using light energy (e.g. plants) • May be chemoautotrophs using chemical energy (e.g. cyanobacteria)

6. Photoautotroph Producer That Captures Energy from the sun by: • Photosynthesis • Adds Oxygen to the atmosphere • Removes Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere Algae

7. Habitat of Photoautotrophs • On Land • Plants • In The Sea • Algae • Tidal Flats & Salt Marshes • Cyanobacteria

8. Chemoautotrophs • Capture energy from the bonds of inorganic molecules such as Hydrogen Sulfide • Process is called Chemosynthesis • Often occurs in deep sea vents or gut of animals Called a Black smoker (thermal vent)

9. Tube Worms living in Black Smoker

10. Consumers Heterotrophs eat other organisms to obtain energy. (e.g. animals) • Herbivores • Eat Only Plants • Carnivores • Eat Only Other Animals

11. Consumers Heterotrophs eat other organisms to obtain energy. • Omnivores (Humans) • Eat Plants & Animals • Detritivores (Scavengers) • Feed On Dead Plant & Animal Remains (buzzards) • Decomposers • Fungi & Bacteria

12. Feeding Relationships Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction from producers to various levels of consumers

13. Feeding Relationships • Food Chain • Simple Energy path through an ecosystem • Food Web • More realistic path through an ecosystem made of many food chains

14. Food Chain 3rd Order consumer 2nd Order Consumer 1st order Consumer 4th Order Consumer Producer(trapped sunlight & stored food)

15. Name the Producer, Consumers & Decomposers in this food chain:

17. Food Web

19. Trophic Levels Each Level In A Food Chain or Food Web is a Trophic Level. • Producers • Always The First Trophic Level • How Energy Enters The System • Herbivores • Second Trophic Level

20. Trophic Levels • Carnivores/Omnivores • Make Up The Remaining Trophic Levels Each level depends on the one below it for energy.

21. Ecological Pyramids Graphic Representations Of The Relative Amounts of Energy or Matter At Each Trophic Level May be: Energy Pyramid Biomass Pyramid Pyramid of Numbers

22. Energy Pyramid

23. Biomass Pyramid

24. Pyramid of Numbers