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Ecosystems, Energy pyramids, and Food Chains. Plants – (Producers). Food making ability Photosynthesis (manufacture food from light and elements from the soil, water, and air around them). Animals – (Consumers). - Must depend on eating plants or other animals to get their food or energy.
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Plants – (Producers) • Food making ability • Photosynthesis (manufacture food from light and elements from the soil, water, and air around them)
Animals – (Consumers) • - Must depend on eating plants or other animals to get their food or energy.
Ecosystems • Biotic components (all the living organisms in the area) • Abiotic components (the non-living features of the area – rocks, soil, climate, water) • Plants and animals all interact with one another • (plants nourish animals, but animals also nourish plants when they die and decompose) • Ecology • The study of ecosystems • If something happens to a group within an ecosystem – most likely affect the other things within the ecosystem as well.
Herbivores • Plant eaters (first-level consumers) • Examples: • Ostracodes (tiny crustaceans that feed on algae) • Buffalo • Elephants
carnivores • Get their energy by killing and eating other animals • First order carnivore – consumes plant-eating animals • Second order carnivore – consumes first order carnivores
Omnivores • Eat both plants and other animals. • Examples: Humans • Bears
Scavengers • Feed on organisms that have died naturally or have been killed by something else. • Valuable for ecosystem • Consuming or breaking down organic wastes from dead plants or animals that would otherwise accumulate in the system. • Examples • Ravens • Vultures • Hyenas • Beetles, earthworms, and maggots eat waste matter
Decomposers • break down the tissues and wastes of other organisms into the simplest compounds and nutrients • Return these substances back into the environment • Used by plants again for food production. (Cycle begins again) • Examples: • Bacteria • Moulds • Fungi
Energy Levels in a ecosystem • Each time an organism eats another (energy transfer) – from the eaten to the eater. • All energy begins with the SUN -> Plant-> Herbivore-> Carnivore. (Food Chain) • Trophic Pattern – flow of energy from one type of organism to the next. • Trophic Level- level of energy • Only 10-15% of originally consumed energy is stored and available to the next organism • (most of energy used up to maintain own life processes) • Ex: By volume an ear of corn has much more available energy to give than a fattened cow.
Food Webs • Are created instead of chains because different types of animals share certain food sources but not others.
Food Pyramids Human beings could gain more energy by eating fruits, grains, and vegetables than by eating animals higher up the food chain. What implications does this have as the world struggles to feed its expanding population?
