Ecosystems

An ecosystem includes all of the

organisms as well as the nonliving
things in a given area.
Ecosystem
Ecosystem
Community
Community
Population
Population
Organism
Organism

 A community is a group of
different species that live
together in one area.
Community
Community
Population
Population
Organism
Organism

An ecosystem includes both biotic and

abiotic factors.
Biotic

factors are living things.

Plants
Animals
Bacteria

plants

Abiotic

factors are nonliving things.

moisture
temperature
wind
sunlight
soil

sunlight

moisture

What is the primary source

of energy for an
ecosystem?

Producers
Makes

food by changing light energy of

the sun into chemical energy, or food
Also called Autotrophs
Ex. Plants, algae, some bacteria

Consumers
Organisms

that do not make their

own food
Also
Ex.

known as HETEROTROPHS
Rabbits, Deer, Mushrooms

Heterotrophs

Heterotrophs
Consumers
A.

Herbivores eat ONLY plants

Ex.

Cows, Elephants, Giraffes

Heterotrophs
Consumers
B.

Omnivores eat BOTH plants and

animals
Ex.

Bears and Humans

Heterotrophs
Consumers
C.

Carnivores eat ONLY other

animals
Ex.

Lions, Tigers, Hawks

Heterotrophs
Consumers
D.

Scavengers/Detritivores feed on
the tissue of dead organisms (both
plants and animals)
Ex.

Vultures, Crows, and Shrimp

Heterotrophs
Consumers
E.

Decomposers absorb any dead

material and break it down into simple
nutrients or fertilizers
Ex.

Bacteria and Mushrooms

Food Chain

Food Chains
The

energy flow from one trophic level to

the other is know as a food chain
Producers are at the first TROPHIC LEVEL
Primary Consumers are the SECOND
TROPHIC LEVEL
Secondary consumers are at the THIRD
TROPHIC LEVEL

Trophic Levels (feeding

levels)
3

Food Web
Most

organisms eat more than JUST

one organism

When

more organisms are involved

it is know as a FOOD WEB

Food

webs are more complex and

involve lots of organisms

Food webs

Transfer of Energy
When

a lion eats a zebra, it does

not get all of the energy from the
zebra (much of it is lost as heat)

Only

10% of the energy from

one trophic level is transferred
to the next this is called the
10% rule

Ecological Pyramid

 Three

hundred trout are needed to

support one man for a year. The
trout, in turn, must consume
90,000 frogs, that must consume
27 million grasshoppers that live
off of 1,000 tons of grass.
-- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist
(1971)

Ecological Pyramid

Which
Which
Which
Which

level
level
level
level

has
has
has
has

the
the
the
the

most energy?
most organisms?
least organisms?
least energy?

Pyramid of Numbers
Shows the numbers of individual organisms at
each trophic level in an ecosystem.
tertiary
consumers

secondary
consumers

5000

primary
consumers

500,000

producers
producers

5,000,000

A vast number of producers are required to support even a few

top level consumers.

Biomass pyramid
Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of
organisms in a given area.

tertiary
consumers

75 g/m2

150g/m2
secondary
consumers
primary
consumers

producers
producers

675g/m2

2000g/m2