Ecology

Ecology

Organisms and the ecosystems

Living things capture and release energy

• All energy can be traced back to the sun!•Living organisms move energy through an ecosystem

•Producers•Consumers•Decomposers

Producers• An organism that captures energy and stores it in food as chemical energy•Makes energy available to all other living things in an ecosystem•Energy, from the sun, enters into the living parts through plants as they perform photosynthesis•Most common producers:

•Plants

Consumers• Organisms that get their energy by eating, or consuming, other organisms•It is a feeding system based on different levels or their feeding relationship

•Primary consumer•Secondary consumer•Tertiary consumers•Scavengers

Primary Consumers• First link between producers and the rest of the consumers in an ecosystem•Gets its energy from plants•Also known as herbivores

Secondary Consumers•Organisms that feed primarily on primary consumers•They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants)

Tertiary Consumers• Organisms that get their energy by consuming secondary consumers

Scavenger• Organisms that get their energy by feeding on dead animals•No special spot on the chain

eewww

Decomposers•Organisms that break down dead plants and animals into simpler compounds•Returns energy back into water or soil to be cycled•Examples:

• Fungi • bacteria

Models that explain the feeding relationship

•Food Chain (simple)•Links one by one•Describes the feeding relationship between producer and a SINGLE chain of consumers

•Feed Web (complex)•Relationship between MANY different producers and consumers•Overlapping and interconnected

Food Chain

Food Web

What happens to the energy?

• As the energy moves through the ecosystem the amount available decreases•This can be seen in an energy pyramid•The bottom, the base, of the pyramid has the most energy and decreases as you move up the pyramid•Producers are on the bottom because they get their energy directly from the sun

Energy Pyramid