ENV 101:

Ecology II:
Ecological Interactions-Feeding relationships
Saquib Ahmad Khan
Lecturer
Department of Environmental Science (DES)
School of Environmental Science & Management (SESM)
 Feeding relationships in Ecosystems
Feeding relationships
show who eats whom
in an ecosystem.

Can be expressed in
food chains and
food webs
ecological pyramids

Ecologists use these relationships to study the transfer of energy

and matter in ecosystems.
 Ecosystems

Consumers
Producers (Heterotrophs)
(Autotrophs)

Carnivores
Photosynthesis Chemosynthesis Omnivores

Herbivores

Decomposers

Detritivores
 Producers
Also called autotrophs (auto = self, troph = energy)
They can produce their own matter & energy from abiotic
(inorganic) components
Can be of two types:
Photo-autotrophs
producers that do photosynthesis (use light)
Chemo-autotrophs
producers that do chemosynthesis (use chemicals)
 Photosynthesis
Green plants are the most widespread producers
Photosynthesis: use sunlight energy to convert carbon dioxide
(from the atmosphere) and water (from the ground) into
oxygen and carbohydrates (stored in fruits)
Reaction:
6CO2 + 6H2O 6O2 + C6H12O6
 Chemosynthesis: in Deep Ocean
Chemosynthetic organisms in
deep oceans.
No sunlight reaches this
depth.
Use chemical energy from
sulfur compounds to produce
carbohydrates, using heat
from underground hot water
bed
Sulfur-laden water is emitted
from hot water vents
Chemo-autotroph
Chemosynthetic
tubeworm

Live on ocean floors

near underwater heat
vents (hydrothermal
vents)
 Consumers
Consume (eat) producers or each other for energy.
Also called heterotrophs.
Heterotrophs
Cannot make their own organic compounds and must
feed on other living things
Secondary production and transfer of energy & matter
 Consumers
Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores Decomposers

Directly eat Eat other Eat other

Detritivores
producers animals animals &
(plants) plants
 Decomposers & Detritivores
Detritivores feed on dead
bodies of other organisms

Vultures are detritivores

Decomposers eat dead things that is

break down dead organic matter into
inorganic matter (nutrients).
This saddle fungus feeding on a dead tree (left) is a
decomposer
 The dead organisms that are eaten by decomposers are
called detritus which means "garbage".

They eliminate dead and dying organisms, and in the

process, they release nutrients into the soil.

Decomposers have the job of 'recycling' dead

organisms and waste into non-living elements. (From
biotic to abiotic) so that producers can use them.

Dung beetles Slug Mushrooms

Earthworms
 Eventually they will
convert its complex
organic chemicals into
simpler inorganic
nutrients that can be
taken up by producers.

Various detritivores and decomposers

(mostly fungi and bacteria) can feed on or
digest parts of a log .

Fig. 3-10, p. 61
 Food chains & food webs
Energy and Matter Flows Through
Ecosystems in Food Chains and Food Webs
 Food chains
Energy and Matter Flows Through
Ecosystems in Food Chains
 Food chains
Show who is eating whom in any
ecosystem.
Show how energy and matter is
being transferred from producers
to different consumers.
Every ecosystem has its own food
chain.
Food chains are divided into trophic
levels or energy levels.
 hawk quaternary consumer

Trophic Level Where It Gets Food Example

1st Trophic Level: Producer Makes its own food Plants make food
2nd Trophic Level : Primary Consumer Consumes produces Grasshopper eats plants
3rd Trophic Level: Secondary Consumer Consumes primary consumers Mice eat grasshoppers
4th Trophic Level: Tertiary Consumer Consumes secondary consumers Snakes eat mice
5th Trophic Level: Quaternary Consumer Consumes tertiary consumers Hawks eat snakes
 In the terrestrial food chain, grasses are the producers.
Grasses, in turn, are consumed by grasshoppers. Because
grasshoppers directly consume producers, they are
called primary consumers.
At the next level of the food chain, grasshoppers are
consumed by mice, which are called secondary
consumers.
Mice are consumed by snakes (called tertiary
consumers), and snakes are consumed by hawks (called
quaternary consumers).

Points of Interest:
All the grassland ecosystems around the world together
are called what?
 In the aquatic food chain phytoplankton is the
producer.
Phytoplankton is eaten by zooplankton, which is
the primary consumer.
Zooplankton, in turn, is eaten by fish (secondary
consumers).
Fish are eaten by seals (tertiary consumers),
and seals are eaten by white sharks (quaternary
consumers).
Food Web
Food chains tend to be overly simplistic
representations of what really happens in
an ecosystem.
Most organisms consume multiple species
and are, in turn, consumed by multiple
other species.
Ex. Rats can eat rice grains and wheat and
can in turn be eaten by snakes and eagles
A food web represents these more
complex interactions.
It is a network of food chains of an
ecosystem
Ecological Pyramids
Pyramid of Numbers

Pyramid of Energy

Pyramid of Biomass
 Ecological pyramids are
vertical representation of the
food chain/web of an
ecosystem.

Pyramids have the lowest

trophic level at the bottom
and the higher ones on top.
1. Pyramid of Numbers
Represents the number of organisms or
the populations present in each trophic
level.
Producers (at the lowest trophic level)
are the highest in number.
Meaning the base of the pyramid is
fattest.
The quaternary consumers are the
lowest in number.
2. Pyramid of Biomass
The dry mass of an organism is
called its biomass.
Pyramid of Biomass: The total mass
of all organisms at a trophic level.
In this pyramid there is a gradual
decrease in the biomass from the
producers to the higher trophic
levels
3. Pyramid of Energy
Shows the amount of
energy present in
each trophic level.
The primary
producers (trophic
level) have the most
amount of energy.
3. Pyramid of Energy
Also shows the amount and efficiency of
energy transferred from lower to higher
trophic levels

Energy decreases with each higher

trophic level.

As energy travels up the food chain

only 10% is transferred.

The rest 90% is lost, mainly as heat.

Concepts:
Bioaccumulation and
Bio magnification
 Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of toxic substances, such as
pesticides, or other chemicals in an organism. How: Exposure through
food, water, contact etc.
Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a - possibly toxic -
substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost by
excretion.
It increase over time as its concentration levels in organism increase.

Most well-known case:

FORMALIN!
In a single organism bioaccumulation of a toxic
substance increases with time and amount of
exposure.
Bio magnification
Bio accumulation can take the form of Bio magnification as it
travels up in food chains.
DEF: Biological magnification refers to the process whereby
certain toxic substances (such as pesticides, formalin) or
heavy metals move up the food chain, increasing in
concentration.
Bio magnification works up the food chain in an opposite way
to numbers, energy and mass- it INCREASES at higher trophic
levels.
DDT is used as pesticides,
insecticides, for controlling
malaria etc.

Causes mouth, nausea,

dizziness, confusion,
headache, lethargy,
incoordination, vomiting,
fatigue, and tremors in
Humans

Can hamper reproductive

abilities of animals
 CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

What happens if we mess with the

food chain?
Ecological Surprises: The Law of Unintended Consequences

Malaria once infected nine of every ten

people in North Borneo, now known as the
eastern Malaysian state of Sabah.

In 1955, the WHO began spraying the

island with dieldrin (a DDT relative) to kill
malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

The program was so successful that the

dreaded disease was nearly eliminated.
Ecological Surprises: The Law of Unintended Consequences

Then unexpected things began to happen.

The dieldrin also killed other insects, including flies
and cockroaches living in houses.
The people were very happy.
Next, small insect-eating lizards that also lived in
the houses died after feeding themselves on
dieldrin-contaminated insects.
Cats began dying after feeding on the lizards.
Ecological Surprises: The Law of Unintended Consequences

In the absence of cats, rats flourished and overran the villages.

When the people became threatened by sylvatic plague carried
by rat fleas.
WHO had to
parachute
cats into
Borneo to
control the
population
Ecological Surprises: The Law of Unintended Consequences

But then the villagers roofs began to

fall in.
The dieldrin had killed wasps and
other insects that fed on a type of
caterpillar that had either avoided or
was not affected by the insecticide.
With most of its predators
eliminated, the caterpillar population
exploded, munching its way through its
favorite food: the leaves used to thatch
roofs.
The End!