Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2 Energy flow
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blacksmoker_in_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plagiomnium_affine_laminazellen.jpeg
Review: 4.3.U1 Autotrophs convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and other carbon compounds. AND 4.2.U2 Light
energy is converted to chemical energy in carbon compounds by photosynthesis.
http://www.slideshare.net/gurustip/communities-and-ecosystems
4.2.U4 Energy released from carbon compounds by respiration is used in living organisms and converted to heat.
http://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_main_large/public/images/sn-hummingbirds_1.jpg?itok=h9E5jae0
4.2.U7 Energy losses between trophic levels restrict the length of food chains and the biomass of higher trophic
levels.
http://www.slideshare.net/gurustip/communities-and-ecosystems
4.2.S1 Quantitative representations of energy flow using pyramids of energy.
1
Pyramids of energy always get smaller at
higher trophic levels due to the loss of energy.
2
Bars should be roughly drawn to scale,
e.g. secondary consumers should be
1/10th the width of primary consumers.
3
The bottom level will always represent the producers, with subsequent
levels representing consumers (primary, secondary, etc.)
Image from http://www.slideshare.net/gurustip/communities-and-ecosystems
4.2.U7 Energy losses between trophic levels restrict the length of food chains and the biomass of higher trophic
levels.
Energy losses between trophic levels limit the length of food chains.
Chemical energy is held in molecular bonds.
Therefore as energy is lost between trophic
levels it is natural for biomass* to be lost too.
As the trophic level increases the biomass and energy available decreases
Higher trophic levels are often less efficient as more energy is spent on
foraging more mobile prey
Eventually the energy required to forage exceeds the energy gained from
foraging, making the trophic level unviable#
*Biomass is usually measured as the total dry mass of organisms
#Competing hypotheses assert that ecosystem size is a more important factor than productivity
Image from http://www.slideshare.net/gurustip/communities-and-ecosystems
Explain the the flow of nutrients and energy through ecosystems (8 marks)
Explain the the flow of nutrients and energy through ecosystems (8 marks)
http://www.slideshare.net/gurustip/communities-and-ecosystems
Bibliography / Acknowledgments
http://tinyurl.com/y9dm
wwro
By Chris Paine
http://www.bioknowledgy.info/