Energy Flow in Ecosystems https ed ted comlessonsfromthetopofthefoodchaindownrewildingourworldgeorgemonbiot

Energy Flow in Ecosystems https: //ed. ted. com/lessons/from-the-top-ofthe-food-chain-down-rewilding-our-worldgeorge-monbiot

What are the energy roles in an ecosystem • An ecosystem is the community of organisms that lives in a particular area, along with the non-living environment

Three roles in an ecosystem: Producers Consumers Decomposers

Producers • Energy enters most systems as sunlight • Organisms that use the Sun’s energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into energy during photosynthesis are called producers • This includes plants and some algae

Consumers • Consumers are organisms that obtain their energy by feeding on other organisms • Consumers are classified by what they eat • Herbivores • Carnivores • omnivores

Types of Consumers • Herbivores – eat only plants • Carnivores – are consumers that eat only animals • Omnivores – are consumers that eat both plants and animals

Decomposers • If an ecosystem had only producers and consumers, the raw materials of life would stay locked up in wastes in the bodies of dead organisms • Decomposers break down biotic wastes and dead organisms and return the raw materials to the ecosystem

Biotic vs. Abiotic • Biotic factors – all of the living, or once living, parts of an ecosystem • Abiotic factors – are the non-living parts of an ecosystem • List a few of each and we will check – the abiotic factors are the hardest

How does energy move through an ecosystem? • Energy moves through an ecosystem when one organism eats another • Food chains – a food chain shows a series of events in which one organism eats another to obtain energy • Food webs – a food web shows the interconnected food chains in an ecosystem – food webs have arrows that show the direction of the energy flow

Energy Pyramids • An energy pyramid shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to the next in a food web • The most energy available is at the producer level of the pyramid • You lose 10% of the energy with every level you go up from there

Add a Slide Title - 2 Which organisms are the producers? Which organisms get the least amount of energy from the system? Which organisms is a secondary consumer?