Energy Flow through Ecosystems by d. jones

Habitat= the type of place where an organism lives determined by plant communities –community = all of the populations in the same habitat –abiotic factors soil water elevation climate

Classification of Organisms by Feeding Modes Producers –trap energy from the sun sun is the ultimate source of energy for earth use photosynthesis to make their own food –combine water and carbon dioxide to form carbohydrates –requires chlorophyll (they are green)

consumers –get food from producers –primary consumers feed directly on producers –secondary consumers feed on primary consumers –there can be tertiary and quaternary consumers

decomposers –bacteria and fungi –obtain their energy from organisms that have died or from animal wastes –occasionally obtain energy from organisms that are still living athletes foot –recycle nutrients and other molecules

Energy Flow SUNLIGHT  producer  primary consumer  secondary consumer  decomposer Steps in the series are called trophic levels.

Trophic Levels

Energy Loss energy is lost at each level –most of the energy is lost as heat –motion –metabolism there is more energy available at the lower trophic levels –therefore there is more mass of organisms

We can view this as a pyramid.

Central Valley grasses –produce seeds

valley oak –produce acorns

Insects grasshoppers: grasses crickets:grasses spiders: insects Arachnids

Mammals –Small Rodents jackrabbits: grass ground squirrel: seeds, fruit mice: seeds,grasses gopher: plant roots

Large Mammals Coyote: birds, small mammals, frogs, snakes, berries

Seed eaters Meat eaters BIRDS –kestrel: –insects –red tailed hawk: rabbits, ground squirrels Valley Quail

reptiles gopher snakes: rodents western fence lizard: insects

Make a pyramid and place all of the organisms mentioned in the previous 3 slides at the correct level.

grasses valley oak Western Fence Lizard, gopher snake, Kestrel, coyote,Red tail Hawk,spiders Quail, rodents, jackrabbit, grasshoppers, crickets coyote

A Food Chain series of organisms though which food energy passes

Make a food chain for the coyote. First - place organisms from the lowest trophic level at the bottom and work your way up the levels as you go up the page. grass seeds ground squirrel coyote Second – draw arrows pointing to the organism that is doing the eating.

Food Web feeding diagram which shows relationship between many food chains

Make a food web. first place the producers in a row at the bottom of the page grasses second place the consumers in rows similar to where they are found in the energy pyramid grasshoppers crickets rabbits ground squirrels quail kestrel coyote gopher snakes red tail hawk third draw arrows ( arrows point to the organism that is eating)

More terms that describe feeding relationships. predator –hunts for and kills its food example coyote eating rodents –coyote is the predator prey –animal eaten by a predator example the rodent is the prey of the coyote in the example above

herbivore –eats plants only carnivore –eats meat omnivore –eats meat and plants insectivore –eats insects scavenger –consumes garbage –or carrion organisms that were killed by something else

Foothill Oak Woodland

trees Blue Oak interior live oak –reproductive part = acorn

digger pine –pine nuts for reproduction –conifers evergreen needles seeds in cones

shrubs –buckeye –poison oak

mistletoe –symbiosis=close relationship between two species –parasitism = one benefits, the other is harmed

lichens –symbiotic relationship –mutualism both organisms benefit mosses fungi –mushrooms –bracken fungus

birds –scrub jay:acorns –acorn woodpecker: acorns –turkey vulture: carrion

mammals –mule deer:grasses –gray squirrels:acorns, pine nuts –gray fox: rodents –Bats: insects nocturnal –Rodents(gnawing mammals):grasses & fruits

insects –California sister butterfly: larva eat oak leaves –oak moth larvae: oak leaves –Mosquito:mammal blood –gall wasp:larvae live in oak –termites:dead wood

Classify each of the organisms of the Foothill Oak Woodland using the correct terms: producer predator prey scavenger decomposer herbivore carnivore omnivore insectivore