Biology Activity 2 Interspecific Relationships in an Ecosystem

Biology Activity 2: Interspecific Relationships in an Ecosystem (page 124)

Scientific Terms • Producers (or autotrophs) : they are organisms that produce their own food by photosynthesis. Ex: plants • Consumers (or heterotrophs): they are organisms that depend on organic matter from other living things. Ex: animals • A primary consumer is the first consumer (which eats plants) in a food chain • A secondary consumer is the animal which eats the primary consumer

Food Chain • It is a model that shows a sequence of feeding relationships • It links one producer to a single chain of consumers within an ecosystem • The food chain uses names or pictures and arrows to show energy flows from one species to another

Decomposers • They are organisms that break down or decompose dead bodies of animals or plants • They convert dead bodies into organic matter or mineral salts which is kept in the soil to be used by plants later on in photosynthesis • Example: worm, mushroom, some insects and bacteria

Relationships Between Organisms • Predation: it is a relationship where one animal dies for the other animal to survive ( a predator hunts the prey) • Commensalism: an association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm • Parasitism: is a relationship where one organism (the parasite) lives on or in another organism (the host) causing it some harm and sometimes leading to illness or death

The 10% Law • This law states that only 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the other • An organism only takes 10% of the energy from organism which is eaten • The highest level of energy is in the first level of the food chain which is the producers

Food Web • Most organisms eat more than 1 kind of animals or plants • The same organism might be involved in 2 or more food chains • The network which joins many food chains together is called a food web • In other words, a food web is a group of food chains joined together

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