4.

1 Roles of Living Things

4.2 Ecosystem Structure
4.3 Energy in the Ecosystem
4.4 Cycles of Matter

Bellringer:
Producer
Consumer
Decomposer
Trophic level
Food chain
Food web
Ecosystems
What is an ecosystem?
All ecosystems do two
things
Transfer energy
from one source to
another
Cycle (or recycle)
matter
Bill nye ecosystems
Roles of Living Things
Many different roles
in flow of energy and
cycling of matter
Producers, Consumers and Decomposers
Gather food in three basic ways:
Producers
Energy enters the system ONLY at this
level
Consumers
Decomposers

Producers
Organisms that make their own food from
inorganic molecules and energy
Most capture energy from sun and use it to
make food through photosynthesis
Examples:
Consumers
Organisms that cannot make their own food
Four basic kinds:
Herbivores-primary consumers; eat only
plants
Carnivores-secondary or tertiary consumers;
eat only meat
Omnivores-eat meat and plants
Scavengers-eat dead organisms

What am I??
Carnivore
What am I??
Omnivore
What am I??
Herbivore
What am I??
Scavenger
Roles of Living Things
Decomposers
Bacteria and fungi
that consume the
bodies of dead
organisms and
other organic
wastes

decomposers
Trophic Levels
A layer in the structure of feeding
relationships in an ecosystem
Producers=autotrophs
make their own food
Consumers=heterotrophs
nourishment by eating other organisms

Trophic Levels
1
st
Trophic level= Producers
2
nd
trophic level=primary
consumers
3
rd
trophic level=secondary
consumers
4
th
trophic level=tertiary
consumers
3-5 trophic levels

Bellringer
Biological magnification
Biomass
Ecological pyramid
Evaporation
Transpiration
legume
Ecosystem Structure
Food chain-a series
of organisms that
transfer food
between the trophic
levels of an
ecosystem

Food chains
http://pack152.net/AcademicsAndSports/WildlifeConservation/FoodChain.gif
Ecosystem Structure
Food web-a
network of food
chains representing
the feeding
relationships
among the
organisms in an
ecosystem
Which organisms are the producers?
Which organisms are the consumers? What happens when one disappears?
http://www.biologycorner.com/resources/foodweb1.gif
Ecosystem Structure
Biological
magnification-
increasing
concentration of
a pollutant in
organisms at
higher trophic
levels in a food
web
Question
What are food chains and food webs and how
are they related?
Food Chain
Food Web
Energy in the Ecosystem
Biomass-total amount of organic matter present
in a trophic level
In other words, the amount of energyin the form
of food- available to the next trophic level
10 percent Law
Most energy that enters through organisms in a
trophic level does not become biomass.
90% of energy is used by organism to grow and
maintain Homeostasis
Only 10% of is transferred to next trophic level
Energy in the Ecosystem
Ecological pyramid-
diagram that shows
the relative amounts
of energy in different
trophic levels in an
ecosystem
Chemical Cycles
Water Cycle
Evaporation-
movement of water
in the atmosphere
as it changes from
liquid to gas
Transpiration-
evaporation of
water from leaves
of plants
Chemical Cycles
Carbon Cycle
Photosynthesis &
respiration could
not happen
without carbon
The biological
reactions in
organisms are
the center of the
carbon cycle
Carbon cycle

http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect16/carbon_cycle_diagram.jpg
Largest carbon sink
Oceansabsorb more than of CO2
Chemical Cycles
Organisms need
nitrogen to make
amino acids
(building blocks
of life)
Most living things
cant use nitrogen
directly
Nitrogen Cycle
Organisms need-
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria: bacteria
that can use nitrogen from the
atmosphere
Produce ammonia (form of
nitrogen used by plants)
Legumes: plants such as peanuts
and clover that have colonies of
nitrogen-fixing bacteria in
nodules on their roots
Nitrogen cycle
Quiz
The ultimate source of energy for all ecosystems
is
a. the sun c. energy
b. food d. producers

An organism obtains food, shelter, and
nutrients from its

a. habitat
b. climate
c. population
d. mates


Heterotrophs can be all of the following
except
a. producers.
b. primary consumers.
c. scavengers.
d. secondary consumers


Which type of organism is likely to
suffer the effects of biological
magnification most?

a. a decomposer
B. a primary consumer
C. a secondary consumer
D. a tertiary consumer

Water, carbon, and nitrogen move
through living and nonliving things on
Earth through processes known as

a. biogeochemical cycles.
b. energy transfer
c. networking.
d. chemical reactions

Some plant seeds live through cold
winters but do not sprout until spring. In
winter these seeds are
a. dead.
b. multiplying.
c. germinating.
d. dormant.

You are a secondary consumer when
you consume a
a. chicken salad.
b. candy bar.
c. glass of orange juice.
d. piece of bread.

Abiotic factors of a community include
all the following except
a. weather
b. rocks
c. plants
d. water