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Section 2 Energy Flow in Ecosystems. Chapter 16. Grade 10 Biology Spring 2011. A robin, snake, hawk, frog, grasshopper, mouse, and rabbit can all be found in an open field. Draw arrows to show what eats what in this field ecosystem. . Bell Ringer.
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Section 2 Energy Flow in Ecosystems Chapter 16 Grade 10 Biology Spring 2011
A robin, snake, hawk, frog, grasshopper, mouse, and rabbit can all be found in an open field. Draw arrows to show what eats what in this field ecosystem. Bell Ringer
Distinguish between producers and consumers Compare food webs with food chains Describe why food chains are rarely longer than three or four links Objectives
Primary Productivity: the rate at which organic material is produced by photosynthetic organisms in an ecosystem Primary Energy Sources
Producers: organisms that first capture energy • Plants, some bacteria, algae • Make energy storing molecules Change of Ecosystems Over Time
Consumers: organisms that consume plants or other organisms to obtain energy necessary to build their molecules Change of Ecosystems Over Time
Trophic Level: an energy level that is used to study how energy is moved through an ecosystem • Organisms are assigned to trophic levels • Energy moves from one trophic level to another Trophic Levels SUN PRODUCER CONSUMER CONSUMER
Food Chain: path of energy through the trophic levels of an ecosystem Trophic Levels
First Level: occupied by producers • Plants, algae, bacteria • Producers use energy of the sun to build energy-rich carbohydrates • Many also incorporate key nutrients (nitrogen) from the environment into their biological molecules Trophic Levels
Second Level: herbivores eat the primary producers from the first trophic level • Primary consumers • Herbivores: animals that eat plants or other primary producers Trophic Levels
Third Level: carnivores eat the primary consumers (herbivores) from the second trophic level Carnivore: animals that eat other animals Omnivore: both herbivores and carnivores Trophic Levels
Detritivores: consumer, obtain their energy from the organic wastes and dead bodies that are produced at all trophic levels • Bacteria, fungi, worms • Decomposers: cause decay • Bacteria, fungi • This releases nutrients back into the environment Trophic Levels
Fourth Level: carnivores that consume other carnivores • Tertiary consumers, top carnivores Trophic Levels
Food web: complicated, interconnected group of food chains • In most ecosystems, energy does not follow simple straight paths • Individual animals often fed at several trophic levels Trophic Levels
Energy transfer: during every transfer of energy within an ecosystem, energy is lost as heat • Amount of useful energy available to do work decreases as energy passes through an ecosystem • Loss of energy limits number of trophic levels Loss of Energy in A Food Chain
Energy Pyramid: diagram in which each trophic level is represented by a block, and the blocks are stacked on top of each other, with the lowest trophic level on the bottom • Pyramid shaped because each level represents the amount of energy stored in the organisms at that level The Pyramid of Energy
At each trophic level, the energy stored by the organisms in a level is about one-tenth of that stored by the organisms in the level below Loss of Energy in A Food Chain Fourth Trophic Level: 1J energy Third Trophic Level: 10J energy Second Trophic Level: 100J energy First Trophic Level: 1,000J energy
Most ecosystems involve three or four levels Too much energy is lost at each level to allow more Why can’t a large human population survive from eating lions? Limitations of Trophic Levels
Humans Eating bread: Humans eating beef: • it takes a certain amount of grain…… • To produce enough bread…… • To provide one person with a certain amount of energy. • It takes 10 times more grain……. • To feed one cow…… • To make enough beef….. • To provide one person with the same amount of energy. Limitations of Trophic Levels
Biomass: dry weight of tissue and other organic matter found in a specific ecosystem • Each higher level on the pyramid contains only 10% of biomass found in the trophic level below it • Used to determine the amount of energy present in trophic levels • Used because the number of individuals in a trophic level may not be an accurate indicator of the amount of energy in that level • Due to size of organisms Limitations of Trophic Levels
How much energy is lost as you move up a trophic level? List the reasons why food chains do not tend to exceed four links? How are producers different from consumers. Review
90% of energy is lost at each trophic level Food chains do not tend to exceed four links because so much energy is lost at each trophic level. Producers use energy (usually from the sun) to assemble food molecules, hence “producing food”. Consumers must take in (or consume) these food molecules to obtain their energy. Answers