Food Chains, Webs, and the transfer of ENERGY Flashcards
concept 2/3
how is energy from the sun passed on to living things?
through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis
what is passed on when one organism eats another?
energy
what is the first law of thermodynamics?
energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred from one form to another
ex. photosynthesis transforms solar energy into chemical energy stored in monosaccharides (like glucose)
what is the second law of thermodynamics?
during any energy transformation, some of the energy is converted to an unusable form, usually thermal energy(heat).
food chains
simplistic way of showing the transfer of energy from producers to consumers
food webs
a more detailed way of showing energy transfer from multiple producers to multiple consumers
the 1st trophic level
made up of organisms that make their own food, aka producers.
what is an autotroph?
an organism that makes its own food
the 2nd trophic level
made up of organisms that feed on autotrophs, aka primary consumers
the 3rd trophic level
made up of organisms that feed on the primary consumers, aka secondary consumers
what is a heterotroph?
all consumers
can there be more than three trophic levels?
YES
bioaccumulation
when a toxin increases in concentration as you move up a food chain.
energy ……. as you move up a food chain but toxins ……… as you move up a food chain
decreases, increases
on average, what percent of the sun’s energy do producers actually capture?
1%
what percent of the producer’s energy is used by the primary consumer?
10%
in consumers, why isn’t all the energy they receive from producers actually used in their bodies?
because they don’t digest all of what they eat, so some is lost in feces.
What is most of the energy that a consumer receives used for?
it is used to keep them alive
(used in cellular respiration)
decomposers (detritivores)
they eat the feces and dead remains of all animals and plants which gives them their energy. They then convert all the remaining matter into heat and raw materials that new plants need to grow.
ecological pyramid
a way of representing energy flow in food chains and food webs.
what are the three types of ecological pyramids?
pyramid of numbers
pyramid of biomass
pyramid of energy
pyramid of numbers
created by counting the numbers of organisms at each trophic level
pyramid of biomass
made by finding the biomass of each trophic level
measured in grams per square meter(g/m2)
biomass
the total dry mass of living material in an ecosystem.
