Ecosystem: energy flow and recycling of chemical elements: food chain, food web

Food web
Ecosystem: energy flow and recycling of chemical elements

Chemosynthetic organisms in
hydrothermal vents in the
deep ocean
 Trophic structure of ecosystems

D← →D

E E

C C
O← →O
M M

P P
O← →O
S S

E← →E

R R

S← →S
 energy
Ecosystem: primary ʌ production

Gross primary production (GPP) = amount of chemical energy

produced by photosynthetic plants

Net primary production (NPP) = difference between GPP and the

amount of chemical energy utilized for metabolism (growth,
reproduction) of photosynthetic plants
 Ecosystem: primary production

Different ecosystems have varying levels of primary production

Forests and the ocean contribute significantly to the Earth’s overall

primary productivity.
Most areas of the ocean basins have low primary production (i.e.,
oligotrophic) , but shallow areas of oceans have high primary
production (i.e., eutrophic).
Primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems
• primary production is confined at the
shallow lighted or photic zone and then
declines with increasing depth
• nutrients (e.g., nitrates, phosphates, silica, etc.)
from decomposing aquatic organisms
accumulate in the deep aphotic zone of oceans
Primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems: upwelling: anchovy, sardine fishery
 Ecosystem: secondary production
Secondary production is derived from the conversion of chemical energy
from primary production of plants into tissue or biomass production
of consumers or heterotrophs

→ heat
50% 30%

20%

Only about 10% of total chemical energy from primary production is

utilized by consumers or heterotrophs for their own tissue
growth!!!
 Ecosystem: ecological efficiency: trophic pyramid

Ecological efficiency is the ratio of net productivity at one trophic

level and the net productivity of the trophic level below it

A multiplicative loss of energy along the food chain and food web