Basic Ecology Community Interactions Topics *1011 *1012 *1019 Ms. Morris

Interactions Within a Community Food Chains – Food “links” between living organisms in a community Food Webs – Intertwined food chains

Food Chain Image:

Food Web Image:

Diets Herbivore – Only eat vegetative material –Deer, cattle, rabbits Carnivore – Only eat meat material –Lions, wolves, cats Omnivore – Eats both meat and vegetative material –Bears, pigs, humans

Images: en.wikipedia.org Herbivore Omnivore Carnivore

What do teeth have to do with it?

Herbivore Image: Female Red Deer - Cervus elaphus

Omnivore Kinkajou - Potos flavus Image:

Carnivore Cougar – Felis concolor Image:

Interactions Within a Community Producers – Photosynthetic organisms – meaning? –Autotrophs –ALL PLANTS!! –Not fungi (mushrooms) Consumers – Rely on producers or another consumer for food –Heterotrophs –Different levels Primary Secondary Tertiary

Decomposers – Break down dead organic matter –Not only feeds them, but releases nutrients into the environment to start cycle again –Fungi (mushrooms) –Maggots –Worms Interactions Within a Community

What’s missing on this diagram? Where do they fit in? Image:

Energy Flow 1 st Law of Thermodynamics – Energy can be neither created or destroyed 2 nd Law of Thermodynamics – When energy is converted from one form to another, energy is always lost (used)

Less energy available to each trophic level Image:

Why is energy lost at each level?

Biomass How much matter does it take to feed each species Image:

Questions Give two NEW (don’t use the ones I gave) examples of each: –Herbivore –Carnivore –Omnivore Explain what would happen if there were no decomposers on Earth What happens to energy at each tropic level? Turn in to Ms. Morris by the end of the day (10 Points)