Transcript Four Laws of Ecology

Four Laws of Ecology:
Everything is connected
to everything else.
Everything must go
somewhere.
Nature knows best.
There is no such thing as
a free lunch.
All organisms fit into a:
Habitat - the
physical area in
which an
organism lives.
Niche - the
way of life of
an organism.
Energy enters an
ecosystem from the sun
and flows between
organisms as one eats
another.
the flow of
energy through
an ecosystem.
Energy is always lost from one
level to the next.
•Producers –
Organisms that
make their own food (energy) from
sunlight, water and carbon dioxide
or from chemical energy from
deep sea vents. They are the base
of every food chain.
ConsumersOrganisms that cannot
produce their own
food/energy, but must eat
other organisms to get
energy.
eat primary
producers
(plants).
eat primary
consumers
(herbivores)
eat secondary
consumers
(carnivores)
Break down dead tissue and waste
So how do all of these pieces fit
together????
For more
information about
food chains click here
the specific sequence in which
organisms obtain energy within
an ecosystem.
Sun
Energy
Grass
Producer
Rabbit
Fox
Bear
Primary
Consumer
Secondary
Consumer
Tertiary
Consumer
Interrelated
food chains
within an
ecosystem.
As the diagram indicates, a food
web may have many linked food
chains and be very complex.
Within any
ecosystem, some
organisms utilize
resources and
reduce the
availability of
those resources
to other
organisms.
The relationship
between a predator
and its prey.
Even predator and prey populations are
related. If the predator population is low,
the numbers of the prey species will
increase. Most predator species will
reproduce in larger numbers if food is
abundant. As the numbers of the predator
species increase, the prey population begins
to decline.
So…to sum things up! The
Four Laws of Ecology are:
Everything is connected to
everything else.
Everything must go
somewhere.
Nature knows best.
There is no such thing as a
free lunch.