Energy Flows in Ecosystems

• Solar Energy Budget:

  Absorbed by land and oceans: 51%

  Reflected by clouds or Earth’s surface: 30%

  Absorbed by the atmosphere and clouds: 19%

  Absorbed by plants: 0.023%
• Photosynthesis is the process where the Sun’s energy is converted into chemical energy (Glucose/Sugar).
• Producer – an organism that makes its energy-rich food compounds using the Sun’s energy.
• On land, major producers are green plants – which contain chlorophyll, which captures light energy.
• Photosynthesis

  carbon dioxide + water = sugar + oxygen
• Cellular Respiration is the process where sugar is converted into carbon dioxide, water, and energy.
• Consumers – an organism that obtains its energy from consuming other organisms.
• Cellular Respiration

  sugar + oxygen = carbon dioxide + water + energy
• Ecological Niches - The function a species serves in its ecosystem, including what it eats, what eats it, and how it behaves.
• No two species occupy identical niches.
• Food Chains are a sequence of organisms each feeding on the next, showing how energy is transferred from one organism to another.
• First trophic level – producers

  Second trophic level – primary consumers

  Third trophic level – secondary consumers

  Fourth trophic level – tertiary consumers

  Fifth trophic level - quaternary consumers
• Ecological Pyramids display relationships between trophic levels in ecosystems.
• The three types of ecological pyramids:

  1. Energy Pyramid
  2. Biomass Pyramid
  3. Numbers Pyramid
• Energy Pyramid

  A) Decomposers

  B) Heat

  C) Energy Pyramid

  
• Biomass Pyramid

  
• Numbers Pyramid

  
• Only about 10% of the energy taken in by the individuals at one trophic level is passed on to individuals at the next level
• Chlorophyll is the same basic molecule in all photosynthetic organisms.
• Chloroplasts are plant cell organelles that convert light energy into relatively stable chemical energy via the photosynthetic process