Transcript The Flow of Matter and Energy

The Flow of Matter
and Energy
Levels of organization
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Biosphere
Biome
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Organism or Individual
Energy Transfer
• Chemical elements that make up the
molecules of living things pass through food
webs and are combined and recombined in
different ways
• Energy is stored in newly made structures, but
much is released as heat
• Continual input of energy from sunlight keeps
the process going
Energy Flow
http://ocw.tufts.edu/data/5/241030/72027_medium.jpg
• Trophic levels
– Organism’s relative
position in a sequence of
energy transfers
• Autotroph =
“self – energy”
• Heterotroph =
“different – energy”
Producers
• Autotrophs
• Photosynthetic
• Some bacteria are chemosynthetic
• Terrestrial : Plants; Aquatic : Protists and Bacteria
http://city.waverlyia.com/docs/Green%20Trees.jpg
http://www.fiu.edu/~reink/plima.jpg
http://library.thinkquest.org/10952/students/2truc/ALGAE.GIF
Consumers
• Heterotrophs
– Herbivores, carnivores, omnivores,
detritivores, decomposers
• Decomposers
– specific term for some bacteria and fungi
– Make nutrients available again to autotrophs,
recycling chemical nutrients
http://discover.edventures.com/images/
http://www.african-safari-pictures.com/image-files/vulture-pictures.jpg
Ecosystem Components
• Living things – biotic factors
– All plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, protists
• Non-living things – abiotic factors
– Air, water, rocks, sunlight, etc.
Next, classify the objects in the following
diagram as biotic or abiotic
http://www.greenfacts.org/images/glossary/trophic-level1.jpg
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/energytransfer2.thumbnail.gif
Food Chains
Food Webs
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/tutorial/foodweb.gif
http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/articles/images/2005_fish_web.jpg
The Energy Cycle
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Amount of life in any environment is limited by the available
energy, water, oxygen, minerals and recycling of dead
organic material
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Humans often change the flow and reduce land fertility…in
what way?
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When there are too many organisms for decomposers to
recycle, fossils fuels are created
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Burning of fossil fuels introduces stored energy as heat and
released large amounts of carbon dioxide disrupting the cycle