Transcript Parts of the Ecosystem

Parts of the
Ecosystem
What is Ecology?
 Study of the
interactions between
organisms and
their environment
ECOSYSTEMS
An ECOSYSTEM is made of all the
living & nonliving things that interact in
a particular area
Ecosystems can be
large or small
ECOSYSTEMS
•The living parts of an ecosystem are
called BIOTIC factors
•Examples: trees, plants, flowers,
insects, animals
Alive?
 To be considered living, an organism
must…
 Contain all 7 characteristics of life
 DNA
 Reproduce
 Use energy
 Adapt
 Respond to Stimuli
 Made of cells
 Grow and Develop
ECOSYSTEMS
The non-living things in an
ecosystem are called ABIOTIC
factors
Examples : water, rocks, soil, air,
temperature, wind, carbon
dioxide, nutrients, sunlight
Organization in the
Environment
 Ecologists have arranged the
environment in different levels
Organism
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biosphere
The 5 Levels:
#1 Organism
 1. An individual is
a single organism.
Ex: an alligator, a human, an oak tree
The 5 Levels:
#2 Population
A population is a group of
individuals of the same
species in the same area.
Ex: group of alligators, herd of deer
The 5 Levels:
#3 Community
A community consists of all of the
populations of different species that live
and interact in an area.
The 5 Levels:
#4 Ecosystem
An ecosystem is made up of a community of
organisms and its abiotic environment
The 5 Levels:
Level #5 Biosphere
The biosphere
is the part of
Earth where life
exists
End of Part 1
ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM
How does energy flow in an ecosystem?
What is an energy pyramid?
What is a trophic level?
ENERGY ENTERS ECOSYTEM
 All energy in
ecosystem comes
from the sun
 First law of
Thermodynamics:
Energy cannot be
created or destroyed
(but it can be
transformed into
stored energy & heat)
ENERGY LEAVES ECOSYSTEM
 Second law of
thermodynamics:
Energy is lost as
energy is transformed
 In ecosystem, when
energy is
transformed, some
energy is lost as
HEAT
ENERGY PATHS
3 ways to
illustrate
energy flow
2. Food Web: many paths
1. Food Chain: Single path
3. Food Pyramid
FOOD CHAINS
 A food chain shows the path of
energy from one organism to
the next
 energy flows from producers
to consumers
 arrows point to who is eating
(plant is eaten by herbivore)
 Usually decomposers are left
out
FOOD WEBS

A food web shows all feeding relationships in an
ecosystem (made of many food chains)
FOOD WEBS
 Typically, food webs go like this:
CONSUMER
(CARNIVORE)
CONSUMER
(OMNIVORE)
CONSUMER
(HERBIVORE)
PRODUCER
remember:
decomposers
receive energy
from all other
organisms in
an ecosystem
DECOMPOSER
FOOD CHAINS AND WEBS

Practice! Draw a food
chain that includes the
following organisms:
grasshopper
 mouse
 grass
 owl
CONSUMER
(CARNIVORE)


Now label the organisms
as producers, consumers
(which type?), or
decomposers
CONSUMER
(CARNIVORE)
CONSUMER
(HERBIVORE)
PRODUCER
FOOD CHAINS/WEBS & ENERGY PYRAMIDS
 Food chains/webs can be
written as a pyramid:
 Producers form the base
of the pyramid

Consumers form the
upper layers
ENERGY PYRAMIDS
The energy pyramid shows
energy flow in an ecosystem:
 A level of the
energy pyramid is
called a TROPHIC
LEVEL
 Each trophic level
represents the
energy for those
organisms
Top
Consumer
Energy stored by
Secondary Consumers
Energy stored by
Primary Consumers
ENERGY STORED
BY PRODUCERS
TROPHIC LEVELS
 Energy is lost with each trophic
 ~90% is released to the environment as heat
 ~10% of the energy is used
Only about
10% of the
energy from
one level is
passed on to
the next level
QUICK REVIEW
 Practice!
If 100% of the energy is available at the first trophic
level, what percentages of the energy are available at
the second and third trophic levels?
1%
10%
100%
QUICK REVIEW!
All organisms in an ecosystem need _______
energy
from food to live. An energy ________
pyramid shows
how much food energy is passed from one
________
organism to another through food chains.
__________
Producers have the largest spot at the base
of the pyramid. Altogether, only about _____
10% of
the food energy at each level gets passed up to
the next level.