2.

2 COMMUNITIES AND
ECOSYSTEMS
VIDEO ON ECOSYSTEM FROM KOGNITY
The interactions of species with their
environment result in energy and
nutrient flow
COMMUNITY
 RPK on population-
 A group of populations living and
interacting with each other in a common
habitat.

 Anecosystem is a community and

physical environment it interacts with.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
 Green plants convert light energy into chemical energy
in photosynthesis

 In the chloroplasts the energy of sunlight is used to split

water and combine it with carbon dioxide to make food
in the form of glucose

 Glucose is used as the starting point for the plant to

make every other molecule that it needs
OTHER FOODS MADE BY PLANTS
 Plants add nitrogen and sulphur to make amino acid and
then proteins

 Plants rearrange carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and add

phosphorus to make fatty acids and lipoproteins which
make up cell membrane
Plants make their own food by photosynthesis.
This process is a chemical reaction that uses light energy.

light energy

The word photosynthesis comes from the Greek language:

 ‘photo’ means ‘light’
 ‘synthesis’ means ‘putting together’
Photosynthesis just means ‘putting together with light’.
WORD EQUATION
 IMPORTANT ROLES OF PLANTS IN THE
ECOSYSTEM
 They provide food for all other life on earth, herbivores eat plants
and then carnivores and omnivores eat the herbivores. 
 Plants regulate the hydrological cycle by taking water in and
releasing it in to the atmosphere through transpiration.
 They maintain the balance of gases in the atmosphere by
absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen. This may also help redress 
global warming.
 Plants provide habitats for many animals.

 The roots of plants help bind the soil and reduce erosion

IMPORTANCE OF DECOMPOSERS AND
DETRITOVORES
 Clear ecosystems of dead bodies.

 Prevent the spread of disease by disposing of dead

bodies.

 
 Facilitate the continued functioning of ecosystems by
releasing the nutrients that were locked up in the organic
matter and making them available again
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS AS A SYSTEM
SYSTEM DIAGRAM OF
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
RESPIRATION
 Is the conversion of organic matter into carbon dioxide
and water in all living organisms, releasing energy

 Much of the energy produced in respiration is heat

energy and is released into the environment.
RESPIRATION
A SYSTEM DIAGRAM OF RESPIRATION
TROPHIC LEVELS
 Trophic level is the position an organism (or group of
organisms in a community) occupies in the food chain.
TROPHIC LEVELS AND FOOD CHAIN
FOOD CHAINS
 All energy on Earth comes from the sun

 Ocean vents give out heat from the Earth’s mantle and
some organisms get their energy from this through
chemosynthesis
FOOD CHAINS CONT….
 Flow of energy from one organism to the next

 Organisms are grouped into trophic levels

 It normally starts with primary producer (plant) and end

with a carnivore at the top of the food chain-top
carnivore
PRODUCERS
 Autotrophs (green plants)- make their own food.

 Chemosynthetic organisms (bacteria)- make their own

food from other simple compounds e.g. ammonia,
hydrogen sulphide or methane
CONSUMERS
 Primary consumer(herbivores): feed on primary
producer. Herbivores keep each other in check through
negative feedback loops( fig. 1.3 pg40 of ESS course
companion)

 Secondary consumers (carnivores and omnivores): feed

on herbivores and other carnivores, some times primary
producers.
CONSUMERS CONT….
 Tertiary consumers (carnivores and omnivores): feed on
herbivores and other carnivores, some times primary
producers
 Decomposers (bacteria and fungi): obtain their energy
from dead organisms by secreting enzymes that break
down the organic matter

 Detritivores (snails,slugs,blow fly maggots,vultures):

derive their energy from detritus or decomposing organic
material-dead organisms or feaces , or parts of organisms
eg shed skin from snake, a crab carapace
FOOD CHAINS
VIDEO ON FOOD CHAIN FROM KOGNITY
FOOD WEB
FOOD WEB
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
 Questions 1 to 5 of ESS course companion page 71
 LENGTH OF FOOD CHAINS
 Consider an area of African savannah where grass, antelopes and
cheetahs form a simple food chain.
 • Energy loss 1 – not consumed. The grass stores energy from
photosynthesis but the antelopes only eat some parts of the grass,
so they do not consume all the energy it has stored.

 Energy loss 2 – not assimilated. The grass that is eaten passes

through the digestive system of the antelope but not all of it is
digested and absorbed, so some passes out in the faeces.

 Energy loss 3 – cell respiration. The antelope uses energy to

move and to keep its body temperature constant. As result, some
energy is lost to the environment as heat.
ENERGY IN THE FOOD CHAIN

 Food chains demonstrate the 

first and second laws of thermodynamics.
 Energy is neither created nor destroyed (1st law) in the
food chain and
 as energy passes along the food chain entropy increased
(2ndlaw).
THE SECOND LAW OF
THERMODYNAMICS
 Entropy is the increase in disorder and randomness in a
system. In energy terms it means that an increase in
entropy means a decline in the amount of energy
available to do work.
 The second law of thermodynamics states that the
entropy of a system increases over time; the only way to
avoid entropy is a continuous input of additional energy. 
QUESTION

 Which of the following statements shows how energy changes as it

enters the system? 
 Choices

 Light - mechanical - chemical - heat

 Light - chemical - mechanical - heat

 Heat  - mechanical - chemical - light

 Heat - chemical - mechanical - light

 QUESTION

 Which of the following is part of the second law of

thermodynamics?
 Choices

 Entropy is the decrease in disorder and randomness in a system. 

 None of the responses are part of the second law of

thermodynamics. 

 An increases in entropy means more energy available to do work. 

 The entropy of a system remains steady over time. 

SOLUTION
 Correct choice
 None of the responses are part of the second law of
thermodynamics. 
 Answer explanation

 Answer #2 is correct because none of them are elements of the

second law of thermodynamics.
 Answer #1 is incorrect because entropy is actually the increase
in disorder and randomness in a system. NOT the decrease
 Answer #3 is incorrect because an increase in entropy means
less energy is available to do work in the system. 
 Answer #4 is incorrect because the entropy of a system
increases over time. 
SOLUTION
 Correct choice
 Light - chemical - mechanical - heat

 Answer explanation

 Answer #2 is correct because energy enters the system

as light, it is then transformed into chemical energy during
photosynthesis. The chemical energy passes along the food
chain and is converted into mechanical energy during
respiration. Movement and other life processes transform
mechanical energy into heat which releases into the
atmosphere.
 Answer #1 is incorrect because chemical energy comes before
mechanical in the process. Answer #3and #4 are incorrect
light, not heat comes into the system. 
QUESTION

 Which of the following statements applies to the first law of

thermodynamics?
 Choices

 No new energy is being created in the universe.

 When energy enters an open system it will sometimes increase.

 We create energy during the generation of electricity.

 Entropy will always increase.

SOLUTION
 Correct choice
 No new energy is being created in the universe.

 Answer explanation

 Answer #1 is correct because the first law states that energy is

neither created nor destroyed, therefore no new energy is being
created in the universe. 
 Answer #2 is incorrect because if energy cannot be created or
destroyed energy in an open system can not increase. 
 Answer #3 is incorrect because during the creation of electricity we
convert energy from one form to another. E.g. we use wind power
to turn a turbine and converts kinetic energy into electrical energy. 
 Answer #4 is incorrect because it is linked to the second law of
thermodynamics - entropy and disorder increase in a system. 
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN THE FOOD CHAIN
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
 They represent graphical models of the quantitative
differences between amounts of living material stored at
each trophic level of a food chain
 o ESS course companion page 71 e.g. of pyramids
PYRAMID OF NUMBERS
 This shows the number of organisms on each trophic
level in a food chain at one time
PYRAMID OF BIOMASS
 Pyramid of biomass contains the mass of each
individual* the number of individuals at each trophic
level
 Biomass is the quantity of dry organic material in an
organism, a population or a particular trophic level or an
ecosystem
 Unit= mass per unit area (g m -2/ Kg km -3)

 Fig. 2.2.13 pg 73 & advantages and disadvantages

PYRAMID OF BIOMASS OF AQUATIC
ECOSYSTEM
PYRAMID OF PRODUCTIVITY
 Shows the rate of flow of energy or biomass through
each trophic level page 73 & 74
 Advantages and disadvantages

 To do…..

 Why top carnivores are in trouble page 77

 PYRAMID OF PRODUCTIVITY
The pyramid of productivity solves some of the problems of the
other two types of pyramid as it shows the turnover of biomass at
each trophic level. It is not a snapshot in time as it shows the flow
of energy over a period of time. Each bar in this pyramid
represents the amount of energy that is generated and available as
food for the next trophic level. The units are given as energy or
mass per unit area per unit of time – joules per meter squared per
year or J m-2 yr-1. How the data is collected is covered in 
"Measuring biomass and energy".
HOW ARE PYRAMIDS CONSTRUCTED?
 Draw 2 axes on the graph sheet- horizontal and vertical
 Plot data from the table asymmetrically around the
vertical axis
 E.g. the producer trophic level is drawn with 20 units to
the left and 20 units to the right of the vertical axis
 The height of the bars is kept the same for each trophic
level.

Species number
leaves 40
caterpillar 20
blackbird 14
hawk 16
VIDEOS ON FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD
WEB
 Kognity
 Use the following organisms to construct a food web

 Grass, dog, rabbit, snail, lizard , grass hopper, vole, small

black bird, Peregrine falcon
 Plant, moth, lizard, predatory bug, herbivorous bug,
grasshopper, Praying mantis
 Advantages and disadvantages of pyramid of numbers
and biomass
 Video on ecological pyramid

 Video on the 10% rule

BIOACCUMULATION &
BIOMAGNIFICATION
 Bioaccumulation is the increase in the concentration of
a pollutant in an organism as it absorbs or it ingests it
from its environment.
 Biomagnification is the increase in the concentration of
the pollutant as it moves up through the food chain.