1 / 18

Ecology: Food Chains and Energy Flow

Explore the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem balance and how energy is transferred and lost in an ecosystem. Learn about food chains, food webs, trophic levels, and the importance of producers and decomposers. Review key concepts and answer summary questions.

peggyrlittle
Download Presentation

Ecology: Food Chains and Energy Flow

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ecology Food Chains and Food Webs

  2. BI 6.a-Students know biodiversity is the sum total of different kinds of organisms and is affected by alterations of habitats. • BI 6.e-Students know a vital part of an ecosystem is the stability of its producers and decomposers. • BI.6.f-Students know at each link in a food web some energy is stored in newly made structures but much energy is dissipated into the environment as heat. The dissipation may be represented in an energy pyramid. Standards:

  3. BI 6.a-Biodiversity is total number of different livings things in an area. Biodiversity is affected by changing habitats. • BI 6.e-Producers and decomposers maintain the stability (balance) of ecosystems. How? • BI.6.f-At each link in a food web some energy is stored, but most energy is lost as heat. Ecology Standard Explanations

  4. SWBAT: • Explain the role of biodiversity in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem. • Demonstrate how energy is transferred and lost in an ecosystem. • Explain the various roles of organisms in maintaining the stability of an ecosystem. • Understand the interaction between living and nonliving factors in an ecosystem. Objectives:

  5. Every ecosystem includes both living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) factors. • Life in an ecosystem requires a source of energy. • The biodiversity of an ecosystem maintains the stability of an ecosystem, and altering habitats decreases this biodiversity. Review-Key Concepts So Far

  6. Key Concept: Food chains and food webs model the flow of energy in an ecosystem. • Food chains-A sequence that links species by their feeding relationships. • Follows the connections between one producer and a single chain of consumers. What are food chains?

  7. Owl • Mouse • Grasshopper • Grass What are food chains?

  8. Herbivores-eat only plants (grasshopper) • Omnivores-eat both plants and animals (kangaroo mouse) • Carnivores-eat only other animals (owl) What are the different types of consumers?

  9. Detritivores-organisms that eat only dead or decaying organic matter (detritus). (Millipedes) • Decomposers-Detritivores that break down organic matter into simpler compounds. They return vital nutrients back to the ecosystem. (Fungi) What are the different types of consumers?

  10. Herbivores • Omnivores • Carnivores • Detritivores • Decomposers What are the different types of consumers?

  11. Trophic levels-are the levels of nourishment in a food chain. • Energy flows up the food chain from the lowest trophic level to the highest. • Producer-Herbivore-Carnivore • Primary consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer What are trophic levels?

  12. Food web-is a model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships and the flow of energy within an ecosystem. • At each link some energy is stored by an organism and some is lost. • The stability of an ecosystem depends on the producers. What are food webs?

  13. What are food webs?

  14. Energy pyramid-A diagram that compares energy used by producers, primaryconsumers, other trophic levels.(kilocalories) • Shows how energy is distributed among trophic levels • Start with large base (producers) and each level gets smaller because energy is lost (10%) as heat What happens to the energy in a food web?

  15. Energy Pyramid

  16. Energy Pyramid

  17. SunlightProducersHerbivores Carnivores • Producers-use energy to make food • Herbivores-use energy to grow and for cellular respiration. Most of the energy is lost as heat. • Carnivores-Most of the energy is lost as heat • Each level in food chain contains less energy What happens to the energy in the pyramid?

  18. What is the difference between food webs and food chains? • Why does the stability of ecosystems depend on producers? • What is the role of decomposers in ecosystems? • What are trophic levels? • What happens to energy at each trophic level? Summary Questions:

More Related