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Pathways-of-Energy (1)

The document discusses energy flow within ecosystems, highlighting the laws of thermodynamics that govern energy transformation and the hierarchy of trophic levels including producers, consumers, and decomposers. It explains the concepts of food chains and food webs, illustrating how energy and matter are transferred through various organisms, while emphasizing the loss of usable energy at each trophic level. Additionally, it touches on ecological efficiency and biological magnification, particularly in relation to toxins like DDT.

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mariangelidia
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3 views14 pages

Pathways-of-Energy (1)

The document discusses energy flow within ecosystems, highlighting the laws of thermodynamics that govern energy transformation and the hierarchy of trophic levels including producers, consumers, and decomposers. It explains the concepts of food chains and food webs, illustrating how energy and matter are transferred through various organisms, while emphasizing the loss of usable energy at each trophic level. Additionally, it touches on ecological efficiency and biological magnification, particularly in relation to toxins like DDT.

Uploaded by

mariangelidia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ecosystems: Energy Flow

“All things come from earth, and to


earth they all return”—Menander
Energy
- is defined as the capacity to do work
- the action and behavior of energy may be
described by:
- First law of Thermodynamics/ Law of
Conservation of energy- energy can
neither be created nor destroyed but it can
transformed from one form into another
form
- Second Law of Thermodynamics/ Law
of Entropy- if energy is transformed from
one form to another, it must be
transformed from concentrated to
dispersed form
Energy passes through trophic levels
One of the most important
species interactions is who
eats whom
Matter and energy move
through the community
Trophic levels = rank in
the feeding hierarchy
Producers
Consumers
Detritivores and
Decomposers
Energy Flow and Matter Cycling in Ecosystems…

Food Chains vs. Food Webs


KEY: There is little if no matter waste
in natural ecosystems!
First Trophic Second Trophic Third Trophic Fourth Trophic
Level Level Level Level
Producers Primary Secondary Tertiary
(plants) consumers consumers consumers
(herbivores) (carnivores) (top carnivores)

Heat Heat Heat Heat

Solar
energy

Heat Heat

Detritvores Heat
(decomposers and detritus feeders)
Food webs show relationships and
energy flow
Food chain = the relationship
of how energy is transferred up
the trophic levels
Food web = a visual map of
feeding relationships and energy
flow
Includes many different organisms
at all the various levels
Greatly simplified; leaves out the
majority of species
Generalized Food Web of the Antarctic
Humans

Blue whale Sperm whale

Killer Note:
whale Elephant
Crabeater seal
seal Arrows
Leopard
Go in direction
seal
Of energy
Emperor flow…
penguin
Adélie
penguins Petrel

Squid

Fish
Carnivorous plankton

Herbivorous
zooplankton
Krill
Fig. 4.18, p. 77
Phytoplankton
Food Webs and the Laws of matter and energy

Food chains/webs show how matter and energy


move from one organism to another through an
ecosystem
Each trophic level contains a certain amount of
biomass (dry weight of all organic matter)
Chemical energy stored in biomass is transferred from one
trophic level to the next
With each trophic transfer, some usable energy is degraded
and lost to the environment as low quality heat
• Thus, only a small portion of what is eaten and digested is
actually converted into an organisms’ bodily material or
biomass (WHAT LAW ACCOUNTS FOR THIS?)
Ecological Efficiency:
The % of usable energy transferred as biomass from one
trophic level to the next (ranges from 5-20% in most
ecosystems, use 10% as a rule of thumb)
Thus, the more trophic levels or steps in a food chain, the
greater the cumulative loss of useable energy…
Energy, biomass, and numbers
decrease
Most energy organisms use is lost as waste heat
through respiration
Less and less energy is available in each successive
trophic level
Each level contains only 10% of the energy of the
trophic level below it
There are far fewer organisms at the highest
trophic levels, with less energy available

A human vegetarian’s ecological footprint is


smaller than a meat-eater’s footprint
Pyramids of energy, biomass,
and numbers
Pyramids of Energy and Matter
Pyramid of Energy Flow
Pyramid of Biomass
Heat

Heat
Tertiary Decomposers
consumers
(human)

Heat

10
Secondary
consumers
(perch)
100 Heat

Primary
1,000 consumers
(zooplankton) Heat

10,000 Producers
Usable energy (phytoplankton)
Available at
Each tropic level
(in kilocalories)
Ecological Pyramids of Energy
Biological Magnification

- Refers to condition wherein one


organism acquires toxin or poison from
its surrounding environment via food
chain or food web
Biological Magnification of DDT
(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)

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