Ecology Energy Flow
*Food Chain A visual representation of various organisms in an ecosystem with arrows to show how energy is transferred (usually) by consuming another.
Food Web A visual representation of various energy systems in an ecosystem assignment-discovery-the-food-web- video.htm
Energy Pyramid A visual representation of various energy systems in an ecosystem showing how energy is transferred at each level. Energy is lost as you move up the pyramid assignment-discovery-energy-flow- video.htm
Producers/Autotrophs Organisms that use the sunlight to create (produce) it’s own energy. Also called an autotroph.
Consumers/Heterotrophs Organisms that have to consume (eat) other organisms to obtain energy. Also called a heterotroph.
Let’s Review assignment-discovery-autotrophs-and- heterotrophs-video.htm
Herbivores Organisms that have to primarily eat grasses/plant material.
Carnivores Organisms that have to primarily eat meat/protein material.
Omnivore Organisms that eat both meat/protein and plant material.
*Let’s Review
Decomposers Organisms that break down wastes such as dead materials and recycle them in an environment.
Scavengers Organisms that tend to eat dead/decaying matter… garbage
Relationships between species I.Competition II.Predation III.Symbiosis
Limiting Factors Factors in the environment that can “limit” a population’s growth. Ex: weather, predation, lack of resources (water, food), habitat destruction, pollution…
I. Competition The struggle for organisms to survive as they compete for natural resources including habitat. vulture/cathartes-aura/video-08.html
II. *PredationPredation II. *PredationPredation One organism killing another for food. *Great example of perseverance, species relationships…and Mother’s Day all in one.
III. Symbiosis *Mutualism-*Mutualism- both species benefit (win/win) (+/+)
III. Symbiosis Commensalism- a relationship in which 1 species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed. (+/0)
III. Symbiosis *Parasitism*Parasitism- a relationship in which 1 organism lives on or inside another harming it. (+/-)