Ecology and the Environment : Feeding relationships Flashcards
what is a trophic level
level occupied by an organism within a food chain or web
who’s in the first trophic level and what do they do
producers which convert light energy into chemical energy which is then stored in their tissues
who’s in the second trophic level and what do they do
primary consumers
they eat the producers and transfer the energy into their tissues
who’s in the third trophic level and what do they do
secondary consumers
they eat primary consumers and transfer that energy into their tissues
who’s in the fourth trophic level and what do they do
tertiary consumers
they eat secondary consumers and transfer that energy into their tissues
how is energy lost at any trophic level
when organisms die or produce waste, that energy is converted to decomposers
what are food chains
diagrams which show the energy flow between organisms in an ecosystem
what do arrows in energy diagrams show
the direction of energy transfer
what are food webs
networks of interconnected food chains
what are pyramids of numbers
they show how many organisms are present at each trophic level of a food chain
in a pyramid of numbers, what does the size of each bar indicate
number of organisms present
what are pyramids of biomass
they show the mass of a living organism present at each trophic level of a food chain
are pyramids of biomass always pyramid shaped
yes
what are pyramids of energy
they illustrate the stored energy within the biomass at each trophic level
are pyramids of energy always pyramid shaped
yes
how much % of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
10%
why is only 10% of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next (4)
- consumer isn’t able to digest and absorb all chemical energy in food organisms
- organism very rarely eat every part of an organism
- not all ingested material is digested
-once a consumer has digested and absorbed its food, not all energy will be converted to biomass due to : - heat loss during transpiration
- transfer into waste products like urea and CO2 or Water
when does light energy from sun enter the first trophic level
when producers convert it into chemical energy
energy and other substances are transferred through food chains when: (3)
- primary consumers eat producers, breaking down the carbon compounds within their biomass & using the energy to build new biomasses with their own tissues
- secondary consumers eat primary consumers, breaking down the molecules & using energy to build their own tissues
- repeats at each trophic level
some energy and substances are lost to the ____ between trophic levels
environment
