Biomass Pyramid/ Laws of Conservation of Energy

Why do the laws of Thermodynamics matter? The laws of thermodynamics are important unifying principles of ecology. These principles govern the chemical processes (metabolism) in all biological organisms.

First Law of Thermodynamics Also know as the Law of Conservation of Energy States that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It may change from one form to another, but the energy in a closed system remains constant.

Second Law of Thermodynamics When energy is transferred, there will be less energy available at the end of the transfer process than at the beginning. Due to entropy, which is the measure of disorder in a closed system, all of the available energy will not be useful to the organism. Entropy (disorder) increases as energy is transferred.

The Laws The Laws Explained

A Weird Sideline Do burial practices violate the Laws of Thermodynamics? Talk about it with your elbow partner for a moment.

A more natural burial GreenBurials.org defines green burial as service involving no embalming, no concrete vault, no traditional caskets, and little or no human-made changes to the burial site, such as grave markers. The Green Burial Council defines green burial as an environmental burial, employing "minimal environmental impact," "legitimate ecological aims," and a "conservation of natural resources.“ Illinois Green Burials Green Burial Council

Okay, back on track!

All life begins with the sun Since you can’t do this We need plants to capture the sun’s energy. Via food chains the Laws of Thermodynamics pass energy on

Photosynthesis Life depends on the sun Requires: Carbon dioxide and water Produces: glucose, oxygen and releases some water

Cellular Respiration The process of cells breaking down food to yield energy Requires: Glucose and oxygen Produces: Energy,Carbon dioxide and water.

They need each other

Feeding Relationships Really energy pathways Producers (Autotrophs)- Plants Consumers (Heterotrophs)- organisms that get their food by consuming other organisms

Types of Consumers Herbivore- eats plants Carnivore- eats animals Omnivore- eats both plants and animals Decomposer- breaks down dead organisms in an ecosystem, returning them to nature

Energy Transfer Food Chain- sequence in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next

Energy Transfer Food Web- shows many feeding relationships Remember that food webs are really maps of the way energy is transferred through an ecosystem

Biomass Pyramid Trophic Level- each step in the energy trophic level Producers Primary Consumers/ Herbivore Secondary Consumer/ Consumers

The pyramid shape 10% Rule-only 10% of the energy available at any level is passed to the next Three hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. The trout, in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers that live off of 1,000 tons of grass. -- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist (1971)

Energy becomes unavailable to organisms within an ecosystem 90% of the energy at each level is made unavailable due to activity necessary for life. Only 10% of the biomass is passed onto the next level. 10,000 g/m2 1,000g/m2 100 g/m2

Now let’s practice Grasshoppers anyone?