Topic 19- Organisms and

their environment
 Energy
The Sun is the principal source of
energy input to biological systems.
2 main types of energy from the Sun:
Light
Heat
Photosynthetic plants and some
bacteria can trap light energy and
convert it into chemical energy.
 Ecosystem
The community of different organisms
with the environment in which they
live

Example: forest ecosystem, desert

ecosystem
 Types of organisms in any ecosystem
1. Producers or
autotrophic
living organisms that
can make their own food
using the energy from
the sun by
photosynthesis
Examples: green plants,
algae, phytoplankton
and photosynthetic
bacteria
a. Herbivores
organisms obtain energy by
feeding on plants
example : horses and rabbits
2. Consumers or 3. Decomposers or
heterotrophic saprotrophs
organisms that obtain organisms that obtain
their energy by feeding their energy by feeding
on other organisms on dead organisms or
Examples: Humans organic remains
and Animals Examples: saprotrophic
bacteria and fungi
b. Carnivores
c. Omnivores
organisms obtain energy
by feeding on animals organisms obtain energy
by feeding on both plants
example : lions and and animals
tigers
 Decomposers are very
important
Reduce the accumulation of dead
bodies and organic materials.
Recycle materials by converting the
dead remains into inorganic materials
to be used by the producers.
 What is a parasite?
It is an organism that obtain their
food from another organism (called
hosts) and causing harm to them
Example: bacteria that causes diseases
to a human
(The bacteria is a parasite, and human
is the host that is harmed)
 Food chain

It is a chart showing the flow (transfer)

of energy in form of food from one
organism to another. (It must begin
with a producer)
The arrows show the flow of energy
The primary consumer must be a herbivore or an
omnivore
The trophic level is the position of an organism in a
food chain or food web e.g. producer
During the flow of energy from one
organism to another, some energy
will be lost (around 90% energy):
1. In form of heat to the surroundings
2. Kinetic energy used up for movement (to search for
food, find a mate, escape from predators).
3. Warm-blood animals (birds and mammals) maintain
a standard blood temperature they lose heat to
the environment.
4. Warm-blood animals lose heat energy in faeces and
urine.
5. The consumer does not use some of the material
in the organism being eaten, for example, a locust
does not eat the roots of maize, and some of the
parts eaten are not digestible.
Non-cyclical nature of energy
flow
The energy is passed from one organism
to another in a food chain but, unlike
water and elements such as carbon and
nitrogen, energy does not return in a
cycle. Energy give out by organisms is
lost to the environment.

Shortage of energy due to loss of energy

among trophic levels can limit the length
of the food chain.
 Short food chains are useful
as it:

1. Reduces the loss of energy

2. Reduces the loss in biomass
 Questions
Why is it important to feed on plants
or to be primary consumer?
To reduce the loss of energy and biomass

What is the disadvantage of feeding on

plants only?
Shortage of some amino acids that are
present only in animal proteins not in
plant proteins
 Tips when drawing the food
chain
Make sure you can write a food chain
involving 3 consumers, with the arrows in the
correct direction.
Dont include the Sun (it is not an organism).
Always start with the producer on the left of
diagram.
Practice labeling each trophic level in your food
chain under the organisms (producer, primary
consumer, etc.).
Dont waste time drawing plants and animals:
this will not get you any extra marks.
 Food Web
Food web is a network of interconnected
food chains showing the energy flow
through part of an ecosystem.

The food webs are a more accurate way

of showing feeding relationships than
food chains, because most animals have
more than one food source or it provides
more possibility for each trophic level.
 Food Web
.
 Food pyramids
A diagram of boxes above each other,
the size of each box represents a
certain data about the organism in
each trophic level.
The base of the pyramid represents
the producer; the second level is the
primary consumer; and so on.
There are three types of food
pyramids:
 1. Pyramid of number
The size of each box represents the
number of each kind of organisms in the
food chain.
Advantages of pyramid of numbers
It is very easy to construct (no need to kill
organisms to prepare dry mass or to
calculate the energy content of each
organism)
Not a time consuming
Cheap process not expensive
Pyramid of number
 Pyramid of number
Disadvantages of pyramid of numbers
It can be misleading as Sometimes the
pyramid of numbers doesn't look like
a pyramid at all. This could happen if
the producer is a large plant such as a
tree, or if one of the animals is very
small.
 2. Pyramid of biomass
The size of each box represents the
mass of each kind of organisms in the
food chain.
Advantages of pyramid of biomass
Provides a better image than the
pyramid of number about the flow of
energy in the food chain
 2. Pyramid of biomass
Disadvantages of pyramid of biomass
Need to kill organisms to get the dry
mass
Expensive
Time consuming
Some time it doesnt give a clear image
about the flow of energy as the amount
of energy in equal masses of different
materials(example carbohydrates and
fats are not equal)
 3. Pyramid of energy
The size of each box represents the energy content of
each kind of organisms in the food chain.
Advantages of pyramid of energy It is the best type as it
gives a clear image about the flow of energy in the food
chain and how it gets less in each trophic level

Disadvantages of pyramid of energy

Time consuming
Expensive
Samples of organisms need to be killed to determine the
energy content by burning in calorimete
3. Pyramid of energy
 Carbon cycle

Carbon is mainly:
Found in air in the form of carbon
dioxide
Found in living organisms in
carbohydrates, fats and proteins
Carbon cycle
 Carbon flow
Carbon (in form of carbon dioxide) is absorbed from air by
plants, during photosynthesis.
(fixing of carbon)
Carbon compounds in plants are used in the synthesis of
polysaccharides, proteins or fats
Carbon flows from plants to other organisms by nutrition
Other organisms will:
Release carbon dioxide to air by respiration (after
breaking down food)
Die and decompose by decomposers and the carbon in
their bodies is returned to the atmosphere as carbon
dioxide.
After death, In some conditions decomposition is
blocked. The plant and animal material may then be
available as fossil fuel (by fossilization), in the future
for combustion (burning) releasing carbon dioxide to the
air.
 Deforestation
The removal of large areas of forest to
provide land for farming new crops and
roads, and to provide timber (wood) for
building, furniture and making paper.

CO2 is taken from the atmosphere

during photosynthesis, so when forests
are cleared and trees are burnt the
Carbon compounds will be released
quickly into air as CO2.
 Harms of deforestation
Less CO2 is absorbed from the
atmosphere, leading to an increase
the greenhouse effect increasing
global warming and climate change
Less O2 is produced
Kills organisms by removing shelters
and source of food
Soil erosion (erosion is removal of top
fertile soil)
Water cycle
 Water cycle
1.Water evaporates from oceans, rivers, lakes and
soil. (evaporation)
2.The vapour rises (because it is less dense),
Water vapour condenses into water droplets,
forming clouds. (condensation)
3. Water droplets begin to fall as rain or snow
(this is known as precipitation)
a)Plant root take up water by osmosis, then lose it by
transpiration or lose it after death and decay.
b)Some water will be taken by humans and animals,
then lost by respiration, excretion, defecation or after
death and decay.
c)Some rain water will form underground water or
reach water streams,, where it evaporates.
 Population
A population is a group of organisms
of one species, living in the same area
at the same time and can interbreed
with one another.
The rate of growth of population
depends on 4 main factors:
1.Emigration -departure of an
individual from a population,
decreasing number of population
2.Immigration- entry of an individual
to a population, increasing number of
population
3.Birth rate
4.Death rate
 If (birth + immigration) is more than
(death + emigration) the population
will increase in size and vice versa
A decrease in population size is
described as negative growth
 Factors affecting the number of
birth and death or immigration and
Emigration
1. Food supply abundant food will
enable organisms to breed more
successfully to produce more
offspring or increase immigration;
shortage of food can result in death or
force emigration, reducing the
population.
 Factors affecting the number of
birth and death or immigration and
Emigration
2. Predation- if there is heavy
predation in a population, the
population size of predator will increase
while the population size of prey will
decrease, in turn the food supply for a
predator will decrease leading to
starvation between predators, so the
population of predators will drop in
number
 Factors affecting the number of
birth and death or immigration and
Emigration
3. Disease this is a particular
problem in large populations, because
disease can spread easily from one
individual to another. Some diseases
can reduce population sizes very
rapidly.
 Curves of population of growth
Sigmoid curve or S shaped curve
Lag phase the new population takes time to settle and
mature before breeding begins. The birth rate is slightly
higher than death rate. (primitive stage)
Log (exponential) phase there are no limiting factors.
Birth rate is higher than death rate and increase in
population rate is high. (transitional or exponential stage)
Stationary phase limiting factors, such as shortage of
food, cause the rate of birth to slow down and there are
more deaths in the population. Birth rate and death rate
are equal; the line of the graph becomes horizontal.
(stabilization stage)
Death phase - as food runs out, more organisms die than
are born, so the number in the population drops, as death
rate is higher than birth rate.
 Human population size has
increased exponentially because:
Improvement of food supply
Development of medicine to control
diseases
Development of hygiene education to
avoid diseases

(Infant mortality has decreased, while life

expectancy has increased)
 Social implications of human
population growth
1. Food supply shortage (food distributed so
that no one suffers from starvation or
malnutrition)
2. Providing sufficient jobs and homes for young
people will be affected
3. Providing other things that people consider
important in life such as transportation and
education will be affected
4. Not enough money generated to support older
people who no longer work
5. Low standard service such as health care
For observing a population of
yeast cell:
1. Stir yeast cells with a glass rod (for equal
distribution)
2. Take 1mm using a syringe and put on a
glass slide, stain the cells
3. Observe under microscope and count the
cells
4. Repeat several times
5. Calculate the average of number of cells
per 1mm
6. Calculate the number of cells in total
volume