Thanks to visit codestin.com
Credit goes to www.scribd.com

Scribd
Upload
67 views13 pages

Energy Flow

Energy enters ecosystems from the sun and is either used or lost as heat at each trophic level. Food chains and webs illustrate the transfer of energy between organisms, with producers at the bottom and higher-level consumers at the top. Approximately 10% of the available energy is transferred between trophic levels, resulting in smaller populations at higher levels in the energy pyramid.

Uploaded by

EDWIN DUMOPOY
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
67 views13 pages

Energy Flow

Energy enters ecosystems from the sun and is either used or lost as heat at each trophic level. Food chains and webs illustrate the transfer of energy between organisms, with producers at the bottom and higher-level consumers at the top. Approximately 10% of the available energy is transferred between trophic levels, resulting in smaller populations at higher levels in the energy pyramid.

Uploaded by

EDWIN DUMOPOY
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

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 1. Food Chain: Single path
illustrate
energy flow

2. Food Web: many paths 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: remember:
decomposers
CONSUMER receive energy
from all other
(CARNIVORE) organisms in
an ecosystem

CONSUMER CONSUMER
DECOMPOSER
(OMNIVORE) (HERBIVORE)

PRODUCER
FOOD CHAINS AND WEBS
 Practice! Draw a food
CONSUMER
chain that includes the (CARNIVORE)
following organisms:
 grasshopper
 mouse CONSUMER
(CARNIVORE)
 grass

 owl
CONSUMER
 Now label the organisms (HERBIVORE)
as producers, consumers
(which type?), or
decomposers 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: Top
Consumer
 A level of the
energy pyramid is
called a TROPHIC Energy stored by
Secondary Consumers
LEVEL
Energy stored by
 Each trophic level Primary Consumers

represents the
ENERGY STORED
energy for those BY PRODUCERS
organisms
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.

You might also like