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Energy Flow

Energy flow in an ecosystem starts with the sun, where producers like green plants convert sunlight into glucose through photosynthesis. This energy is then transferred through food chains and food webs, moving from producers to primary consumers and then to secondary and tertiary consumers, with energy decreasing at each level. Decomposers play a crucial role by breaking down dead organisms and returning nutrients to the soil, completing the cycle of energy flow.

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29 views32 pages

Energy Flow

Energy flow in an ecosystem starts with the sun, where producers like green plants convert sunlight into glucose through photosynthesis. This energy is then transferred through food chains and food webs, moving from producers to primary consumers and then to secondary and tertiary consumers, with energy decreasing at each level. Decomposers play a crucial role by breaking down dead organisms and returning nutrients to the soil, completing the cycle of energy flow.

Uploaded by

thanhlamnguyen203
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Energy Flow Through an

Ecosystem
Food Chains, Food Webs, Energy
Pyramids
•Energy for life begins
with the SUN
• Green plants use raw materials and light
from the sun to make glucose.

• ENERGY is stored in the molecules of


glucose.
PRODUCERS
can make glucose during
photosynthesis
Producers keep and use most
of the energy they make for
themselves.
Producers use cellular
respiration to supply the
energy for their life functions.
The energy that is not used by
producers can be passed on to
organisms that cannot make
their own energy.
CONSUMERS: Organisms that
cannot make their own energy.
Consumers that eat producers to
get energy:
• Are called first order or
primary consumers
• Are herbivores (plant-eaters)
Most of the energy the primary
consumer gets from the
producer is used by the
consumer.
Some of the energy moves
into the atmosphere as heat.
Energy (in the primary
consumer) that is not lost to
the atmosphere or used by
the consumer itself can be
passed on.
This energy is available for
another consumer.
• Is called a secondary
or second order
consumer
• May be a carnivore or
a omnivore
• May be a predator
• May be a scavenger
Most of the energy the
secondary consumer gets
(from the primary consumer) is
used by the secondary
consumer.
Some of the energy is lost
as heat, but some energy
is stored and can passed
on to the next consumer.
A consumer that eats a consumer
that already ate a consumer:
• Is called a third order
or tertiary consumer
• May be a carnivore or
a omnivore
• May be a predator
• May be a scavenger
Consumers that eat producers &
other consumers

• Are called
omnivores
• Omnivores
eat plants and
animals
• Consumers that hunt & kill other
consumers are called predators.

The animals that are hunted &


killed are called prey.
Consumers that eat other
consumers that have already
died are called scavengers.
FOOD CHAIN
The transfer of energy from sun to
producer to primary consumer to
secondary consumer to tertiary
consumer can be shown in a
FOOD CHAIN.
Another way of showing the
transfer of energy in an
ecosystem is the
ENERGY PYRAMID.
Energy pyramids show
• That the amount
of available
energy
decreases down
the food chain
Energy pyramids show
• It takes a large
number of
producers to
support a small
number of
primary
consumers
• It takes a large number
of primary consumers
to support a small
number of secondary
consumers
Energy Pyramid
Food Webs:
• Are interconnected
food chains
• They show the
feeding
relationships in an
ecosystem.
Food Web
Food Web
• Why is a food web a better way of
describing the path of food in an
ecosystem?
• Organisms that are able to
break down large molecules
into smaller parts
• Decomposers return the
nutrients that are in a living
thing to the soil
Decomposers

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