Energy Flow 03-07-2017

Review Autotroph is an organism that produces its own food Example – plants Heterotroph is an organism that CANNOT produce its own food. It needs to ingest other organisms to survive. Example – humans, bears, rabbits

Trophic level Level of the food chain based on organisms source of energy Producer, consumer, decomposer

Trophic level

Producer Gets energy from the sun through photosynthesis Plants, algae, some bacteria

Consumer Gets energy from producers or other consumers

Decomposer Detritivore that gets energy form organic waste and dead organisms Examples: Mushrooms

Food Chain / Energy Pyramid Energy pyramid – each trophic level is represented by a block, the size of the block represents the biomass Autotrophs are found on the bottom level (producers) Heterotrophs are consumers and can be found on any level above the bottom level

Biomass The weight of matter found in the ecosystem

Herbivore An organism that eats only plants. These are 1st level consumers

Carnivore An animal that eats other animals These are 2nd and 3rd level consumers

Omnivore An animal that eats both plants and other animals These can be found anywhere on the pyramid

Detritivore Feeds on dead plants and animals These are important because they bring energy back into the energy pyramid after an organism dies

Arrows represent energy flow Food Chain vs Food Web Arrows represent energy flow

10% Rule 100% E 10% E 1%E 0.1%E Both energy and biomass are reduced by 10% as they move up the energy pyramid The energy that does not move up the pyramid is lost as heat to the atmosphere