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Autotrophs
Autotrophs (=self-nourishing) are called primary producers. Photoautotrophs fix energy from the sun and store it in complex organic compounds light (= green plants, algae, some bacteria) simple
inorganic compounds
photoautotrophs
Photosynthesis
The chemical reaction by which green plants use water and carbon dioxide and light from the sun to make glucose. ENERGY is stored in glucose; glucose is stored as starch.
Organisms that can make glucose during photosynthesis are called PRODUCERS.
Producers use cellular respiration to supply the energy they need to live.
CELLULAR RESPIRATION is the chemical reaction that releases the energy in glucose.
The energy that is not used by producers can be passed on to organisms that cannot make their own energy.
Organisms that cannot make their own energy are called CONSUMERS.
Most of the energy the primary consumer gets from the producer is used by the consumer.
Some energy in the primary consumer is not lost to the atmosphere or used by the consumer itself.
This energy is available for another consumer.
Most of the energy the secondary consumer gets from the primary consumer is used by the secondary consumer.
Some of the energy is lost as heat, but some energy is stored and can passed on to another consumer.
Consumers that hunt & kill other consumers are called predators. They animals that are hunted & killed are called prey.
Consumers that eat other consumers that have already died are called scavengers.
The transfer of energy from sun to producer to primary consumer to secondary consumer to tertiary consumer can be shown in a FOOD CHAIN.
Food Chain
1st order Consumer 2nd Order Consumer
3rd Order consumer 4th Order Consumer
Producer (trapped
sunlight & stored food)
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Trophic Levels
Each Level In A Food Chain or Food Web is a Trophic Level. Producers Always The First Trophic Level How Energy Enters The System Herbivores Second Trophic Level
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Trophic Levels
Ecological Pyramids
Graphic Representations Of The Relative Amounts of Energy or Matter At Each Trophic Level May be: Energy Pyramid Biomass Pyramid Pyramid of Numbers
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Energy Pyramid
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Biomass Pyramid
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Pyramid of Numbers
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Another way of showing the transfer of energy in an ecosystem is the ENERGY PYRAMID.
Food Webs:
Are interconnected food chains They show the feeding relationships in an ecosystem
Food Web
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