Module 6:Interactions

Every living plant and animal must have energy to survive. Plants rely on the soil, water, and the sun for
energy. Animals rely on plants as well as other animals for energy. In an ecosystem, plants and animals
all rely on each other to live. Scientists sometimes describe this dependence using a food chain or a food
web. The flow of energy is the most important factor that controls what kinds of organisms live in an
ecosystem.
There are names to help describe each link of the food chain. The names depend mostly on what the
organism eats and how it contributes to the energy of the ecosystem.
Producers - Plants are producers. This is because they
produce energy for the ecosystem. They do this because they
absorb energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. They also
need water and nutrients from the soil, but plants are the only
place where new energy is made.
Consumers - Animals are consumers. This is because they
don't produce energy, they just use it up. Animals that eat
plants are called primary consumers or herbivores. Animals that
eat other animals are called secondary consumers or
carnivores. If a carnivore eats another carnivore, it is called a
tertiary consumer. Some animals play both roles, eating both
plants and animals. They are called omnivores.
Decomposers - Decomposers eat decaying matter (like dead
plants and animals). They help put nutrients back into the soil
for plants to eat. Examples of decomposers are worms, bacteria, and fungi.
A food chain represents a single pathway that describes how different organisms eat each other,
starting with a producer and ending with the decomposer. It shows how each living thing gets food, and
how nutrients and energy are passed from one organism to another. The arrows in a food chain show the
flow of energy from food to eater. For example, you could write the food chain for an eagle like this:

The grasshopper eats grass, the mouse eats the grasshopper, the snake eats the mouse, and the eagle
eats the snake. In the case of the marine environment, the source of energy in the food chains is also the
Sun.
A food web represents multiple pathways through which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem.
It includes many intersecting food chains. It demonstrates that most organisms eat, and are eaten, by
more than one species.

Figure 3. Food Web example

Organisms in food webs are grouped into categories called trophic levels
Trophic Levels:
Level 1: Plants (producers)
Level 2: Animals that eat plants or herbivores (primary consumers)
Level 3: Animals that eat herbivores (secondary consumers, carnivores)
Level 4: Animals that eat carnivores (tertiary consumers, carnivores)
Level 5: Animals at the top of the food chain are called apex predators. Nothing eats these animals.

Energy Pyramid
Energy is required to perform essential life processes such as growth, respiration, and reproduction. It is
transferred when one organism consumes another organism. However, as energy is transferred, much of
it is lost to the environment. The transfer of energy cannot be 100 % efficient. Energy transfer between
trophic levels is typically only 10 % efficient. This relationship between producers and consumers can be
demonstrated through a biomass pyramid and an energy pyramid (Figure 5).
Oxygen-CO2 Cycle, Water Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle

Materials in the ecosystem cycle constantly. This cycling of materials includes the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle,
the water cycle, and the nitrogen cycle.

The Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Cycle

In the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle, both living and non-living things are involved. Plants and other
photosynthesizing organisms give off oxygen, which is a gas used by the animals, plants, and other aerobes
during respiration. On the other hand, animals and other organisms give off carbon dioxide during respiration.
Carbon dioxide is a gas needed by plants and other organisms that photosynthesize.
The Water Cycle

Water circulates the environment – the oceans,

land, air, and living organisms. The cycling
process involves evaporation, transpiration,
condensation, and precipitation. When solar
energy warms the Earth’s surface, water
evaporates from the oceans, rivers, lakes, and
land. The escape of water through leaf pores
(transpiration) adds water vapor to the
atmosphere. Upon cooling at a higher altitude,
water vapor condenses and forms clouds.
Eventually, precipitation occurs in the form of
rain or snow. On land, plant roots absorb water.
In tropical rainforests, over 90 percent of the
moisture is cycled through transpiration in
plants. Some water seeps downwards and
replenishes the groundwater. The excess
eventually overflows into the oceans and the water cycle continues.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Almost 79 % of the atmospheric gas is composed of nitrogen gas. However, atmospheric nitrogen cannot be
used directly by organisms. Nitrogen is important because it is an element found in proteins and nucleic acids.
Protein compounds make up body tissues, hormones and enzymes. Aside from its function in the human body,
nitrogen participates in the process of decomposition, production of energy, and limitation of growth in plants.
Thus, organisms must be able to find ways to make nitrogen usable. This is where the nitrogen cycle comes
in.

Processes in the Nitrogen Cycle

• Fixation - Fixation is the first step in the process of making nitrogen usable by plants. Here bacteria
change nitrogen into ammonium.
• Nitrification - This is the process by which ammonium gets changed into nitrates by bacteria. Nitrates
are what the plants can then absorb.
• Assimilation - This is how plants get nitrogen. They absorb nitrates from the soil into their roots. Then
the nitrogen gets used in amino acids, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll.
•
• Ammonification - This is part of the decaying
process. When a plant or animal dies,
decomposers like fungi and bacteria turn the
nitrogen back into ammonium so it can reenter
the nitrogen cycle.
• Denitrification - Extra nitrogen in the soil gets
put back out into the air. There are special
bacteria that perform this task as well.