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Energy Dynamics Notes (04:25)

The document discusses key concepts about energy flow in ecosystems: 1) Energy from the sun is converted to chemical energy through photosynthesis by producers like plants and algae. 2) Primary productivity is the rate at which producers capture energy, with factors like light, temperature, and nutrients influencing rates. 3) Ecosystems are structured around trophic levels, with producers at the base and carnivores at the top, though most energy ends up in detrital food webs.

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Diana Sanchez
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343 views3 pages

Energy Dynamics Notes (04:25)

The document discusses key concepts about energy flow in ecosystems: 1) Energy from the sun is converted to chemical energy through photosynthesis by producers like plants and algae. 2) Primary productivity is the rate at which producers capture energy, with factors like light, temperature, and nutrients influencing rates. 3) Ecosystems are structured around trophic levels, with producers at the base and carnivores at the top, though most energy ends up in detrital food webs.

Uploaded by

Diana Sanchez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Energy Dynamics Notes (04/25):

 Conservation of energy:
o Physical laws control the flow of energy in ecosystems – the flow
is one way; it is not recycled.
o According to the Laws of Thermodynamics:
 Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only
transformed.
 When energy is transformed, always some is transformed
into waste heat – a low quality form of energy that is not
useful.
 Ecosystems:
o All ecosystems run on energy
o The sun is the ultimate source of energy for ecosystems
o The energy from the sun is converted to chemical energy
through photosynthesis by PRODUCERS (autotrophs).
 Plants, algae, photosynthetic bacteria
 In rarer cases, some chemosynthetic bacteria are the
producers for a deep-sea ecosystem
 Primary Productivity:
o Primary productivity is the rate at which primary producers
capture and store energy
o Gross primary productivity = total rate of photosynthesis
o Net primary productivity = rate of photosynthesis in excess of
that used by the plant for its own needs
o On average, NNP is about half of GPP
o Factors influencing primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems:
 Limits of light (only half available below 15 m)
 Limits of nutrients (N, P, and others)
o In terrestrial ecosystems:
 Temperature
 Precipitation (available water)
o All other organisms in the ecosystem are CONSUMERS
(heterotrophs)
 They feed on the body tissues of other organisms
 Herbivores eat plants or algae
 Parasites and carnivores eat live animal tissues
o Decomposers eat non-living products, or the remains of plants
and animals
o Detritivores eat already decomposing material
o Omnivores eat just about anything
o Scavengers eat dead animals or plants they find
 Trophic Structure:
o Ecosystems are structured around feeding levels
 All organisms at same trophic level are the same distance
from the energy input
 They interact with the same predators and prey
 Omnivores typically fit in the ecosystem at many levels
o Trophic levels can be represented by a food web
 Food Webs:
o Who eats who

2
 Not simple chains – most organisms are members of more
than one chain
 The chains are interconnected to form a web
 Energy is lost at each step, so most don’t go higher than
five trophic levels
 Simple webs are long with many top carnivores
 Complex webs are shorter with many herbivores
 Two types of Food Web:
o Grazing food web – photoautotroph to herbivore to carnivore
o Detrital food web – photoautotroph to detritivores to
decomposers
o They are cross connected
 Most of the energy from photoautotrophs ends up in the
detrital food webs
 Ecological Pyramids:
o Represent the trophic structure in an ecosystem
o The base is made up of primary producers
o A biomass pyramid is the weight of all organisms at each trophic
level
o Generally, the primary producers are the greatest in biomass
and the top carnivores are few
o Energy pyramid shows the usable energy flow through the
ecosystem
 Energy diminishes at each trophic level
 90% of energy is “lost” to metabolic heat at each level.
Only 10% is passed along

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