Vocabulary
Organisms that convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy
Producer
Define ONE of these words, your choice:
biotic
abiotic
Biotic - living things or things that used to be alive. Plants, both living and dead, are biotic factors.
Abiotic - things that are not and never were alive. Water, sunlight, rocks, etc.
Name at least 3 levels of a trophic pyramid - not animals, levels.
Primary producers
Primary consumers (herbivores)
Secondary consumers (omnivores)
Tertiary Consumers (carnivores & omnivores)
Some systems will have a Quaternary Consumer, who is the apex predator of that system. The number of levels depends on the ecosystem.
What do the arrows in a food web represent?
Energy flow, from the thing being eaten into the eater
What interaction occurs when one organism hunts and eats another?
Predation
definition - the act of hunting and eating another organism
Where does the energy lost go?
Energy consumed during life processes is lost to the environment as heat
Predators who eat herbivores have a/an __________ effect on producers.
Indirect
Is the effect positive or negative for producers?
Define "limiting factors" or give us examples.
Limiting factors are biotic or abiotic parts of an ecosystem that slow down (limit) population growth and/or distribution.
The impact of the limiting factor depends on population size AND density.
Competition for food, space, mates, shelter, disease, etc.
Natural disasters
What is the source of ALL energy on Earth?
The Sun
Organisms at the top of the energy pyramid that eat other animals.
Tertiary Consumers/Apex Predator
As you move up an energy pyramid, do populations get larger or smaller? Why?
**Bonus if you remember how much energy moves up each level**
Populations get smaller from producers to apex predators. Energy is lost at each trophic level as life processes and heat.
About 10% of the original energy moves from one level to the next.
What type of organism is a hawk?
Tertiary Consumer
Define "trophic cascade"
Adding OR removing a top predator has a ripple effect down the food chain. Populations of producers, herbivores, and secondary consumers will be affected in some way. This could be good or bad depending on the ecosystem.