Energy Flow through Ecosystems

by d. jones

Habitat= the type of place where an organism lives

• determined by plant communities– community = all of the populations in the same

habitat– abiotic factors

• soil

• water

• elevation

• climate

Classification of Organisms by Feeding Modes

• Producers– trap energy from the sun

• sun is the ultimate source of energy for earth

• use photosynthesis to make their own food– combine water and carbon dioxide to form carbohydrates

– requires chlorophyll (they are green)

• consumers– get food from producers– primary consumers feed directly on producers

– secondary consumers feed on primary consumers

– there can be tertiary and quaternary consumers

• decomposers– bacteria and fungi– obtain their energy from organisms that have

died or from animal wastes– occasionally obtain energy from organisms that

are still living• athletes foot

– recycle nutrients and other molecules

Energy Flow

SUNLIGHT producer primary consumer secondary consumer decomposer

Steps in the series are called trophic levels.

Trophic Levels

Energy Loss

• energy is lost at each level– most of the energy is lost as heat– motion– metabolism

• there is more energy available at the lower trophic levels– therefore there is more mass of organisms

We can view this as a pyramid.

Central Valley

•grasses–produce seeds

•valley oak–produce acorns

• Insectsgrasshoppers: grasses

crickets:grasses

spiders: insects

Arachnids

• Mammals– Small

• Rodents

jackrabbits: grass

ground squirrel: seeds, fruit

mice: seeds ,grasses

gopher: plant roots

• Large Mammals

Coyote: birds, small mammals, frogs, snakes, berries

• Seed eaters

• Meat eaters

BIRDS

–kestrel:–insects

–red tailed hawk: rabbits, ground squirrels

Valley Quail

• reptiles

gopher snakes: rodents

western fence lizard: insects

Make a pyramid and place all of the organisms mentioned in the previous 3 slides at the correct level.

grasses valley oak

Western Fence Lizard, gopher snake, Kestrel, coyote,Red tail Hawk,spiders

Quail, rodents, jackrabbit, grasshoppers, crickets

coyote

A Food Chainseries of organisms though which food energy passes

Make a food chain for the coyote.

•First - place organisms from the lowest trophic level at the bottom and work your way up the levels as you go up the page.

grass seeds

ground squirrel

coyote

•Second – draw arrows pointing to the organism that is doing the eating.

Food Web

• feeding diagram which shows relationship between many food chains

Make a food web.• first place the producers in a row at the bottom of

the page

grasses

• second place the consumers in rows similar to where they are found in the energy pyramid

grasshoppers crickets rabbits ground squirrels quail

kestrel coyote gopher snakes

red tail hawk

• third draw arrows ( arrows point to the organism that is eating)

More terms that describe feeding relationships.• predator

– hunts for and kills its food• example coyote eating rodents

– coyote is the predator

• prey– animal eaten by a predator

• example the rodent is the prey of the coyote in the example above

• herbivore– eats plants only

• carnivore– eats meat

• omnivore– eats meat and plants

• insectivore– eats insects

• scavenger– consumes garbage– or carrion

• organisms that were killed by something else

Foothill Oak Woodland

• trees

• Blue Oak

• interior live oak– reproductive part = acorn

• digger pine– pine nuts for reproduction– conifers

• evergreen

• needles

• seeds in cones

• shrubs– buckeye– poison oak

• mistletoe– symbiosis=close relationship between two

species– parasitism = one benefits, the other is harmed

• lichens– symbiotic relationship– mutualism

• both organisms benefit

• mosses

• fungi– mushrooms– bracken fungus

• birds– scrub jay:acorns– acorn woodpecker: acorns– turkey vulture: carrion

• mammals– mule deer:grasses

– gray squirrels:acorns, pine nuts

– gray fox: rodents

– Bats: insects• nocturnal

– Rodents(gnawing mammals):grasses & fruits

• insects– California sister butterfly: larva eat oak leaves– oak moth larvae: oak leaves– Mosquito:mammal blood– gall wasp:larvae live in oak

– termites:dead wood

Classify each of the organisms of the Foothill Oak Woodland using the correct terms:

producer

predatorpreyscavengerdecomposerherbivorecarnivore

omnivore insectivore