Weeks to TAKS- Week Six:

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Weeks to TAKS- Week Six Objective 3 9d, 12b,e
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
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Energy and matter flow through ecosystems
Radiant energy from the sun is converted to
chemical energy in the form of glucose (sugar) by
photosynthesis in the chloroplasts of plant
cells. Autotrophs (plants/producers) use this
energy in respiration. The plants mitochondria
take that sugar and break it down into ATP that
the plant can use to carry out daily life
activities.
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Part of the energy produced is stored in chemical
bonds of the plant and part of it is released as
heat to the environment. Heterotrophs eat these
producers. The energy stored in their chemicals
bonds is used to carry out daily life functions.
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Wheat
Mouse
Owl
Snake
A food chain, shown above, shows one path the
energy can take. A food web is a collection of
several food chains, linked together.
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A food (or energy) pyramid is another way to
represent this information. The pyramid gets its
shape from the fact that the greatest amount of
energy in the ecosystem is stored in the
producers. (There is more grass than
grasshoppers, and there are more grasshoppers
than frogs.) There are very few tertiary
consumers in ecosystems because it takes a lot of
energy feed one.
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Toxins(poisons) can build up in the food chain.
They are the least concentrated in the producers,
but can build up in the bodies of animals as they
feed. The higher an animal is on the food
pyramid, the more poision he has consumed.
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Niche-Animals role in the ecosystem. Types of
niches Herbivore-eats only plants/producers,
Omnivore-eats both plants and animals,
Carnivore-eats consumers only (meat),
Predator-hunts, Prey-what is being hunted,
Decomposer-usually fungus or bacteria that eat
dead material and returns nutrients to the
environment (may not be included in food webs and
pyramids).
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Symbiosis Organisms can have dependent
relationships. Mutualism(,)-both or organisms
benefit from the relationship. Remoras clean
sharks. The remoras get food and protection.
The sharks get clean. Commensalism (,0) one
organism benefits, the other is not effected.
Spanish moss grows on trees receiving light and
nutrients from the air. The tree is not helped
or harmed. Parasitism(,-)-one organism
benefits, the other is harmed. The tick receives
food, the dog is bitten.