Energy in ecosystems

• Pyramid of numbers
• Energy flow diagram shows how energy flows through an ecosystem from producers to consumers, with arrows showing direction of energy transfer.
• Pyramid of numbers
• The pyramid of numbers is based on the number of organisms at different trophic levels within an ecosystem.
• Food webs
• A food web is a network that represents all possible feeding relationships between species in an ecosystem.
• Food chains
• A food chain is a linear representation of the pathway by which energy passes through an ecosystem as it moves from one trophic level to another.
• Pyramid of energy
• This loss of energy results in a decrease in biomass at higher trophic levels, leading to a smaller pyramid of energy compared to the pyramid of biomass.
• 3 ways energy can be lost along a food chain
• Respiration - organisms lose energy when they respire (breathe) to release energy stored in their cells.
• Decomposition - dead plants and animals are broken down by decomposers such as bacteria and fungi, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• Trophic efficiency - only a small proportion of the energy consumed by producers is transferred to consumers at each trophic level.
• Energy flow diagrams show how energy flows between different species within an ecosystem.
• Producers get their energy from the sun
• Each arrow represents a trophic level
• The arrows on the diagram represent the transfer of energy through the food web
• The size of the circles shows the biomass of each trophic level
• There is always some loss of energy during transfers