1. Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

2. Ecosystem and Energy Roles
Ecosystem: all living & non-living things that interact in an environment
Energy Role in an Ecosystem
Determined by:
How it obtains energy
How it interacts with other living organisms in its ecosystem

3. Some Energy Roles The sun: provides energy
Producers: harness energy from the sun
ex. plants
Consumers: organisms that eat something else
ex. animals
Decomposers: return energy to the environment
ex. fungus, bacteria

4. Producers Plants harness energy from the sun through photosynthesis
They are the base of every food chain
Source of food for all other animals

5. Consumers 4 Types Herbivore: eats only plants
Ex. Cows, horses
Carnivore: eats only meat
Ex. Polar bear
Onmivore: eats plants and animals
Ex. Humans, grizzly bears
Scavenger: carnivore that feeds on bodies of dead organisms
Ex. Vultures

6. Decomposer
Decomposers break down wastes and dead organisms and return the raw materials to the environment
Ex. Bacteria, fungi

7. Energy flow through biological systems

8. Food Chains
Food Chain: series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy

9. Food Chains Continued
Arrows always points in the direction of energy flow
1st organism is always the producer
2nd organism is the consumer that eats the producer
Primary consumer
3rd organism is the consumer that eats the 1st level consumer
Secondary consumer
And so on…..

10. Energy Pyramid
2nd Law of Thermodynamics: energy is not transferred from one object/organism to the next with 100% efficiency
Some of the energy is lost to the environment
Energy Pyramid shows the amounts of energy that moves from one level to the next

11. Sample Energy Pyramid

12. Energy Transfer
Only about 10% of energy is transferred from one level to the next
The other 90% is used by the organism to carry out its life processes or it is lost to the environment