1. Energy Flow Through Biological Communities

2. Food Chains (trophic levels)

3. Detritivores: Scavengers & Decomposers
Scavengers animals that obtain energy from dead and waste matter breaking it into smaller pieces (ex. vultures, earthworms, lobsters, beetles, maggots)
Decomposers obtain energy from dead and waste matter breaking it down into chemical parts which can be reused again by producers. (ex. bacteria and fungi)

4. Food Web = sum of food chains in a community

5. Energy Transfer is Inefficient
What percent of the energy from the plant material becomes caterpillar biomass?

6. Energy Pyramid (10% rule)

7. Energy loss limits the number of trophic levels

8. Decrease in Energy = Decrease in Matter

9. Decrease in Energy = Decrease in Matter

10. 10% Rule Practice Problem
An experimental fish farm consists of algae, crustaceans that eat the algae, and fish that eat the crustaceans. If the algae grow at a rate of 20 kilograms of algae per square meter of pond per year, how big will the pond have to be to harvest 1,000 kilograms of fish per year? (Assume that energy content is proportional to biomass). Show your work!

11. The 10% Rule Explains Why Meat is a Luxury

12. Biological Magnification: toxins increase in concentration in a food chain as biomass decreases