Energy in an ecosystem comes from
The sun
Autotroph
Producers- any organisms that can produce their own food
Ex of autotrophs
Plants, algae, some Protists, some bacteria
What does autotrophs mean
Auto-self troph-energy
Energy flows through ecosystems from
Producers to consumers
*provide us w oxygen and energy if they don't exist we don't
Sunlight is
The main source of energy for most life on esrth
Producers contain
Chlorophyll & can use energy directly from sun
Chlorophyll contains
Chloroplasts which causes plants to be green
What is the niche of a producer
Take Suns energy and make it useful to pass on
Producers capture energy and then
Transform it into organic (carbon), stored energy for the use of living organisms
The organic energy is in the form of
Glucose(sugar)
Photoautotrophs breakdown
Light, producers - use light energy (ex plants)
Chemoautotrophs break down
Chemical, producers- use chemical energy (ex. Cyanobacteria )
Define photoautotroph
Producer that captures energy from the sun through processes of photosynthesis
Photosynthesis equations
6CO2 + 6H2O--> C6H12O6 + 6O2
Photosynthesis adds-
Removed-
Adds oxygen
Removes carbon dioxide
Define chemoautotrophs
Captures energy from the bonds of inorganic molecules such as hydrogen sulfide
Chemoautotrophs process is called
Chemosynthesis
Where do chemoautotrophs occur
Exotic places, deep sea vents bc they can't get energy from sun
Heterotrophs
Consumers- eat other organisms to obtain energy (different, energy)
Types of heterotrophs
Herbivores,carnivores, omnivores, decomposers
Herbivores
Eat only plants (herb)
Carnivores
Eat only other animals (carn)
Omnivore
Eat plants and animals (omni=all)
Decomposers
Feed by breaking down dead organic material, then absorbing the released nutrients(v important)
Types of decomposers
Detrivores
Saprotrophs
Detrivores
Earth worms, feed on detritus (broken down dead material in soil)
Saprotrophs
Fungi and bacteria
Energy flows from
Producers to various levels of consumers in one direction
Food chain starts, ends, middle
Starts-procducers, middle-consumer, decomposers-end
What's a good chain
A sequence in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next
What's a food web
Shows many feeding relationships that are possible in an ecosystem
What's more realistic food chain or wev
Web, interconnected food chains, illustrates organisms can obtain their energy from diff sources
Each step in the transfer of energy through a food chain or web is known as a
Trophic levels
1st trophic level is always
Producers; how energy enters the System
2nd trophic level
Has to be herbivores, some omnivores
Remaining trophic levels
Carnivores / omnivores
Each level obtains energy from
The one below it
Levels vs names
1st- producer
2nd- primary consumer
3rd- secondary consumer
4th- tertiary consumer
5th- quaternary consumer
Three types of ecological pyramids
Energy Pyramid
Biomass pyramid
Pyramid of numbers
Each pyramid goes from
Larger to smaller
10% rule
Only 10% of available energy from one trophic level is transferred to the level above
Why is 90% of energy lost
Organisms use the energy maintaining the 7 characteristics of life
To get the most energy one should consume a ____ why
Producer because they start w the most energy directly from sun
Which pyramid is most accurate
Energy pyramid bc the others are just estimations
Amnt of available energy _______ for higher consumers
Decreases
Is there a larger population of producers or consumers
Producers, support everyone, highest level has least, not enough energy to support
Energy measuring units
Cal, kcal, joules
Biomass measuring units
Grams
Numbers
Numerical depiction
Special about bacteria
It's a producer, decomposer, and consumer
If one organism is removed from the food web
All organisms are effected
What's a food web
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