Ecosystems

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Ecosystems
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• An ecosystem includes all of the organisms as
  well as the nonliving things in a given area.

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• A community is a group of different species that
  live together in one area.

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An ecosystem includes both biotic and abiotic
factors.

• Biotic factors are living things.
• plants
• animals
• fungi
• bacteria

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• Abiotic factors are nonliving things.

• moisture
• temperature
• wind
• sunlight
• soil

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What is the primary source of energy for an
ecosystem?
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Producers

• Makes food by changing light energy of the sun
  into chemical energy, or food
• Also called Autotrophs
• Ex. Plants, algae, some bacteria

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Consumers

• Organisms that do not make their own food
• Also known as HETEROTROPHS
• Ex. Rabbits, Deer, Mushrooms

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Heterotrophs
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Heterotrophs

• Consumers
• A. Herbivores eat ONLY plants
• Ex. Cows, Elephants, Giraffes

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Heterotrophs

• Consumers
• B. Omnivores eat BOTH plants and animals
• Ex. Bears and Humans

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Heterotrophs

• Consumers
• C. Carnivores eat ONLY other animals
• Ex. Lions, Tigers, Hawks

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Heterotrophs

• Consumers
• D. Scavengers/Detritivores feed on the tissue
  of dead organisms (both plants and animals)
• Ex. Vultures, Crows, and Shrimp

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Heterotrophs

• Consumers
• E. Decomposers absorb any dead material and
  break it down into simple nutrients or
  fertilizers
• Ex. Bacteria and Mushrooms

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Food Chain
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Food Chains

• The energy flow from one trophic level (feeding
  levels) to the other is know as a food chain
• Producers are at the first TROPHIC LEVEL
• Primary (1st)Consumers are the SECOND TROPHIC
  LEVEL
• Secondary ( 2nd) consumers are at the THIRD
  TROPHIC LEVEL
• Tertiary ( 3rd) consumers are the FOURTH TROPHIC
  LEVEL

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Trophic Levels (feeding levels)
3 2 1
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Food Web

• Most organisms eat more than JUST one organism
• When more organisms are involved it is know as a
  FOOD WEB
• Food webs are more complex and involve lots of
  organisms

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Food webs
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Trophic Level Producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer
Grass
Mouse
Grasshopper
Frog
Owl
Hawk
Type of Consumer






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Trophic Level Producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer
Grass 1st Producer
Mouse 2nd Primary consumer
Grasshopper 2nd Primary consumer
Frog 3rd Secondary consumer
Owl 3rd and 4th Secondary and tertiary consumer
Hawk 3rd Secondary consumer
Type of Consumer
None
Herbivore
Herbivore
Carnivore
Carnivore
Carnivore
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Transfer of Energy

• When a lion eats a zebra, it does not get all of
  the energy from the zebra (much of it is lost as
  heat)
• Only 10 of the energy from one trophic level is
  transferred to the next this is called the 10
  rule

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Do you know why there are more herbivores than
carnivores?

• In a food chain, energy is passed from one link
  to another. When a herbivore eats, only a
  fraction of the energy (that it gets from the
  plant food) becomes new body mass the rest of
  the energy is lost as waste or used up by the
  herbivore to carry out its life processes (e.g.,
  movement, digestion, reproduction). Therefore,
  when the herbivore is eaten by a carnivore, it
  passes only a small amount of total energy (that
  it has received) to the carnivore. Of the energy
  transferred from the herbivore to the carnivore,
  some energy will be "wasted" or "used up" by the
  carnivore. The carnivore then has to eat many
  herbivores to get enough energy to grow.Because
  of the large amount of energy that is lost at
  each link, the amount of energy that is
  transferred gets lesser and lesser ...

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• The further along the food chain you go, the less
  food (and hence energy) remains available.

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• Most food chains have no more than four or five
  links.There cannot be too many links in a
  single food chain because the animals at the end
  of the chain would not get enough food (and hence
  energy) to stay alive.Most animals are part of
  more than one food chain and eat more than one
  kind of food in order to meet their food and
  energy requirements.
• Theseinterconnected food chains form a food web.

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Ecological Pyramid
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Energy Pyramid

• Which level has the most energy?
• Which level has the most organisms?
• Which level has the least organisms?
• Which level has the least energy?
• Which Type of consumer ( omni, herbi
• Classify the organisms according to their role in
  a food web.

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Pyramid of Numbers

• Shows the numbers of individual organisms at each
  trophic level in an ecosystem.

• A vast number of producers are required to
  support even a few top level consumers.

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Biomass pyramid

• Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of
  organisms in a given area.