Food Chains, Webs, & Pyramids How Energy Flows in an Ecosystem.
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Transcript of Food Chains, Webs, & Pyramids How Energy Flows in an Ecosystem.
Food Chains, Webs, & Pyramids
How Energy Flows in an Ecosystem
FOOD CHAINSProducers, Consumers, and…
Producers
• A group of organisms that produce their own food using sunlight to convert water & CO2 into glucose (food)– Also called autotrophs– Examples: plants & algae
Producers/Autotrophs
Consumers
• Organisms that consume other organisms in order to live– Also called heterotrophs because they
cannot make their own food– Examples: sharks, mushrooms, seals,
cows
Consumers/Heterotrophs
Primary Consumers
• Eat plants– Examples: giraffes, rabbits
Primary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
• Eat primary consumers (eat plant eaters)– Examples: lions, tigers, bears (oh my!)
Secondary Consumers
Tertiary Consumers
• Eat secondary consumers (eats meat eaters)– Examples: cougars, bears, wolves– Not always present in the food chain
Tertiary Consumers
Scavengers
• Feed on the tissue of dead organisms (both plants and animals)– Examples: crows, vultures, shrimp
Scavengers
Decomposers
• Absorb any dead material and break it down into simple nutrients or fertilizers– Examples: bacteria & mushrooms
Decomposers
Food Chain
• A diagram that shows how energy in food flows from one organism to another– Arrow points toward whichever organism
is receiving the energy
Food Chain
Links in the Chain
• Every organism depends on the other organisms– Example: If all of the grass died, the
grasshopper would starve to death causing the snake and the hawk to starve to death until eventually even the fungi do not have anything to feed on
FOOD WEBSChains + Chains =
Food Webs
• A diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem–Multiple relationships composed of
multiple food chains–Most organisms eat more than one
organism–Much more complex and accurate
Food Web
ENERGY PYRAMIDSHow energy flows…
Energy Pyramid
• A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy– Results as energy passes through the
ecosystem’s food chain/web– Shows the number of organisms and
amount of matter/energy available at each level
– Decreases at each level because most energy is lost as heat waste
The End!