Understanding Energy Flow in Ecosystems

1. 3.2: Energy, Producers, & Consumers

2. energy in an ecosystem originally comes from the sun energy flows through ecosystems from producers to consumers 2

3. producers are autotrophs – they capture the sun’s energy to make their own food include plants, some kinds of bacteria, and algae

4. autotrophs are often called primary producers – they are the firstproducers of energy that is usedby other organisms glucose!

5. consumers are heterotrophs – they must eat other organismsto get energy needed are classified based upon what they eatthe majority of the time: • herbivores • carnivores • omnivores • detritivores • scavengers • decomposers

6. Herbivores eat only plants rabbit zebra 6

7. Carnivores eat animals (meat) by hunting 7 lion fox

8. Omnivores eat both plants and animals many organisms fall into this category raccoon chicken 8 brown bear

9. Scavengers eat large dead organisms without killing it themselves house fly hyenas AND vultures 9

10. Detritivores eat small fragments of dead matter & waste (eat detritus) millipede earthworm dung beetle 10 slug

11. Decomposers chemically break down dead matter (turn it into detritus) VERY important as they return nutrients back to the soil bacteria 11 fungi