GENERAL BIOLOGY
ECOLOGY II - COMMUNITIES AND ECOSTYSTEMS
ENERGY FLOW THROUGH THE ECOSYSTEM
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POWERPOINTS AND STUDY GUIDESFOOD CHAIN
FOOD CHAIN and FOOD WEB - DOC
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OFFLINE STUDY GUIDES
Energy Flow Through the Ecosystem - Study Guide
Energy Flow Through the Ecosystem
– with ScientistCindy @ WWW.ScientistCindy.Com and WWW.PhunnyPhysiology.Com
– with ScientistCindy @ WWW.ScientistCindy.Com and WWW.PhunnyPhysiology.Com
- All living things need energy to power the processes of life.
- For example, it takes energy to grow.
- It also takes energy to produce offspring.
- In fact, it takes energy just to stay alive.
- Remember that energy can’t be created or destroyed.
- It can only change form.
- Energy changes form as it moves through ecosystems.
- The Flow of Energy
- Most ecosystems get their energy from the Sun.
- Only producers can use sunlight to make usable energy.
- Producers convert the sunlight into chemical energy or food.
- For example: Plants create chemical energy from abiotic factors that include solar energy.
- The food energy created by producers is passed through the food chain.
- Producers – Make their own energy (food)
- Consumers – Must consume other organisms to gain energy
- In this way, energy flows from one living thing to another.
- Food Chains
- A food chain is a simple diagram that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem.
- Producers form the base of all food chains.
- The consumers that eat producers are called primary consumers.
- The consumers that eat primary consumers are secondary consumers.
- The consumers that eat secondary consumers are tertiary consumers.
- At each level of a food chain, a lot of energy is lost.
- Only about ten percent of the energy passes to the next level.
- Where does that energy go?
- Some energy is given off as heat.
- Some energy goes into animal wastes.
- Energy also goes into growing things that another consumer can't eat, like fur.
- It's because so much energy is lost that most food chains have just a few levels. There’s not enough energy left for higher levels.
- Food Webs
- Food chains are too simple to represent the real world.
- They don’t show all the ways that energy flows through an ecosystem.
- A more complex diagram is needed called a food web.
- A food web consists of many overlapping food chains.