Food Chains and Food Webs

• [Food Chain] Shows what Organism gets eaten by another Organism in an Ecosystem, AND how Energy is passed through the Organisms
• [How Food Chains are STRUCTURED] (Bottom to TOP)

  1. Producer (usually a Photosynthetic Organism, like Plants or Algae)
  2. PRIMARY Consumers (these always eat the PRODUCERS)
  3. SECONDARY Consumers (these always eat the PRIMARY Consumers, so they're usually Predators)
  4. TERTIARY Consumers (usually eat the SECONDARY Consumers)

  A) Producer

  B) Grass

  C) Primary

  D) Mice

  E) Secondary

  F) Predator

  G) Owl

  H) Tertiary

  
• As Energy gets passed UP the different levels in a Food Chain, most of it gets LOST

  A) Lost

  
• [Trophic Levels] The Different Levels of a Food Chain

  A) One

  B) Producer

  C) Photosynthesis

  D) Energy

  E) Two

  F) Primary

  G) Three

  H) Secondary

  I) Carnivores

  J) Four

  K) Tertiary

  
• Only about 10 % of the ENERGY that's in each Trophic Level, actually gets passed on to the Organisms in the NEXT Trophic Level

  • The Carnivores at the TOP of the Food Chains, who don't have any predators themselves, are known as APEX Predators

  A) Energy

  B) Higher

  C) lost

  D) 10

  
• [Omnivores] They eat both Producers (like Plants and Algae), AND other Organisms too (other Animals like Mice)
• Detritivores and Decomposers:

  A) Animals

  B) Bacteria

  C) Decompose

  D) Environment

  E) Nutrients

  F) Ground

  
• [Why only 10 % of the ENERGY and BIOMASS is Transferred up the Chain]

  • Organisms don't always eat EVERY PART of their Prey (like bones or teeth)
  • Bits that they DO eat, might not be ABSORBED if they can't break them down (these usually get Egested as poop/faeces)
  • Most NUTRIENTS that Animals do absorb, are used to release ENERGY through RESPIRATION (energy/biomass gets released as Waste Products, like Carbon Dioxide and Urea)

  A) Lost

  B) Used

  
• EFFICIENCY of Biomass Transfer:

  A) Next

  B) Previous

  C) 100

  D) 144

  E) 100