Ecosystems
The flow of energy in an
Ecosystem.
Movement of Energy in
an Ecosystem
 How does energy and nutrients flow or move through
a community?
 How is the flow or movement of energy or nutrients
essential to a community?
 How does the movement of energy and nutrients bind
together a community and its environment – how are
they interconnected?
Life depends on energy from the sun.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2
Others use inorganic chemical compounds
- hot springs, deep ocean trenches –
chemosynthesis
http://www.jamstec.go.jp/jamstec-e/30th/part5/image/p74_3.jpg
Trophic Levels of Energy Flow
 Producers – make their own food (ex. Plants, algae and
phytoplankton (autotrophs))
 Consumers – can not make their own food, relies on other
organisms for energy (heterotroph)
 Decomposer- breaks down organic matter and absorbs
nutrients (ex. fungi and bacteria (heterotrophs))
 Scavenger – feed on dead/dying animals (ex. Hyena)
Types of Consumers
 Herbivore – eats plants, 1° Consumer
 Carnivore – eats meat, 1° Consumer, 2° or 3° Consumer,
 Omnivore – eats plants AND/OR meat 1°, 2° or 3°Consumer
 Autotrophs – make their own
food – producer
 Heterotrophs – eat other
things – consumers
bp2.blogger.com/
Heterotroph –
herbivores
eat plants
Heterotrophs
 carnivores – eat animals
Heterotrophs
omnivores – eat plants and animals
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/anim
/images/primary/grizzly-bear.jpg
Heterotrophs
 detritivores – eat
dead things
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/fc.rhithro.lind.jpg
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4505683808705904903&ei=LqIFSprHJZKurgLftKSFCg&q=crab+eating+google&hl=en&client=firefox-a
Heterotrophs
decomposers – break down
organic matter
http://lc.k12.mn.us/HighSchool/KenSchmidt/Images/bacteria.
jpg
http://photo.joedlh.net/Images/LittlePond06/Crepidotus_applanatus.jpg
Heterotrophs
scavengers – feed on dead/dying animals
What Type of Consumer am I?
Which do you think there would be the most
of in an ecosystem: Producers, 1° Consumers or
2 ° Consumers and why
How many rabbits would it take to
feed one fox?
How many plants would it take to
feed hundreds of rabbits?
1,000’s
Food Chain
-linear diagram
-sequence of organisms through which energy moves in a
community
Producer
1° Consumer
2° Consumer
3° Consumer
Is a food chain an accurate
representation of what REALLY
happens in an ecosystem?
•A food chain is a very simple way
to show what is happening in an
ecosystem.
•In reality, organisms eat more
than one thing in an ecosystem.
 Food chains and food webs do not show how
many organisms live in the ecosystem at each
level.
Food
web
*combination of many
food chains
*starts with producers
and ends with
consumers
http://www.abe.ufl.edu/~owens/age2062/lect/lect_28/40_07.GIF
Food Web in a Marsh
Ecological Pyramid – flow of energy
1. Each Consumer can not process 100% of the Biomass.
2. At each trophic level of the pyramid, 10% of the energy is
transferred to the next trophic level (90% lost).
3. Energy is stored in the organism or lost as heat into the
atmosphere (once lost is can not be replaced).
 As we move up a food
chain, there are less and
less numbers of organisms
at each level.
Ecological Pyramids
Energy Pyramid
Shows the relative amount of
energy available at each trophic
level. Organisms use about 10
percent of this
energy for
life processes.
The rest is lost
as heat.
Biomass Pyramid
Represents the amount of
living organic matter at each
trophic level. Typically, the
greatest biomass is at the
base of the pyramid.
Pyramid of Numbers
Shows the relative
number of individual
organisms at each
trophic level.
Ecological Pyramid
– represents the flow of energy
Diagram showing how much energy/biomass there is at
different trophic levels
Energy Pyramid
 shows the amount of energy through a food chain
 only about 10
% of the energy goes to the next level
 What happens
to the rest?
Biomass Pyramid
 shows the total mass through a food chain
Pyramid of Numbers
 show the number of organisms through a food chain
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Abiotic Factors
Biotic Factors
ECOSYSTEM
Cycles of Matter
Matter is recycled within and between
ecosystems.
The Water Cycle
Condensation
Precipitation
Evaporation
Transpiration
Runoff
Seepage
Root
Uptake
The Carbon Cycle
CO2 in
Atmosphere
CO2 in Ocean
The Nitrogen Cycle
N2 in Atmosphere
NH3
NO3and NO2-
Cape May Warbler
Feeds at the tips of branches
near the top of the tree
Bay-Breasted Warbler
Feeds in the middle
part of the tree
Spruce tree
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Feeds in the lower part of the tree and
at the bases of the middle branches