Energy Transfer in Ecosystem Vocabulary Trophic = nutrition Autotrophs Heterotrophs
Autotrophs (Producers)
Heterotrophs (Consumers)
Heterotrophs Consumers 1. Scavengers feed on the tissue of dead organisms (both plans and animals)
Heterotrophs Consumers 2. Herbivores eat ONLY plants.
Heterotrophs Consumers 3. Carnivores eat ONLY animals.
Heterotrophs Consumers 4. Omnivores eat BOTH plants and animals
Heterotrophs Decomposers absorb any dead material and break it down into simple nutrients or fertilizers
Transfer of Energy
Trophic Levels… …represent different levels in a food web.
Food Webs We represent the energy flow from one trophic level to another as a food web. (Most organisms eat more than one different species.)
Food Web Notice that the direction the arrow points The arrow points in the direction of the energy transfer, NOT “what ate what”.
Ecological Pyramid 1. Which level has the most energy? 2. Which level has the most organisms? 3. Which level has the fewest organisms? 4. Which level has the least energy?
Ecological Pyramid