Starter Name 3 abiotic factors and 3 biotic factors in the ecosystem on the right. What makes up an ecosystem?

Food Chains & Food Webs Ecology

Objective I can arrange components (parts) of a food chain and food web according to energy flow.

What is the source of energy for your body?

The sun is the original source of energy for life on our planet

Energy Organisms are classified by how they obtain energy: Producers Consumers

Producers Producer: organisms that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food from inorganic compounds Producers are also known as Autotrophs They are the foundation of all ecosystems because they make energy available for all other organisms in the ecosystem Because they produce food in the ecosystem they are called primary producers

Types of Producers Energy from the Sun Without Light Autotrophs that use solar energy Photosynthesis: process plants and other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbohydrates Autotrophs that produce food from inorganic molecules Chemosynthesis: process organisms such as some bacteria that use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates

Consumers Heterotroph: an organism that gets its energy by consuming other organisms Because they consume other organisms in the ecosystem they are called consumers There are 5 types of heterotrophs

1. Herbivore Herbivore: a heterotroph that eats only plants Examples - cow, rabbit, grasshopper

2. Carnivore Carnivore: a heterotroph that preys on other heterotrophs Examples – wolves, lions

3. Omnivore Omnivore: an organism that eats both plants and animals Examples – bears, humans, mockingbirds

4. Detritivore Detritivores: consume fragments of dead matter and return nutrients to the soil, air, and water Examples – worms, insects

5. Decomposers Decomposers: organisms that break down and obtain energy from dead organic matter Examples - fungi and bacteria

Which is better? Autotroph Heterotroph

Feeding Relationships Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction, from the sun or inorganic compounds to autotrophs (producers) and then to various heterotrophs (consumers).

Feeding Relationships The relationship between producers and consumers connect organisms into feeding networks based on who eats whom.

Feeding Networks Food Chain: a simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem In a food chain some organisms create the energy (producers) and some organisms use the energy (consumers)

Feeding Networks Feeding relationships are complex with most organisms feeding on more than one species Food Web: a model representing the many interconnected food chains within an ecosystem

Trophic Levels Trophic Level: each step in a food chain or food web Autotrophs make up the first trophic level in all ecosystems Organisms at each trophic level get their energy from the trophic level before it The arrow points to the eater and shows the transfer of energy

Does a food chain have an end?

Does a food chain have an end?