The Biosphere

The biosphere is the portion of Earth that supports living things. It extends from high in the atmosphere to the bottom of the oceans.

All the energy on Earth comes from the sun!!

Organisms that use the energy from the sun to produce their own food.
(producers)

Consumes other organisms as food source. 3-Types

1. Herbivores 2. Carnivores 3. Scavengers and decomposers

Heterotrophs that consume plants only.

Ex: cows, deer, rabbits (First order consumers)

Heterotrophs that consume other animals. Ex: Humans, cats

(Second level consumers.)

Feed on dead organisms.

Ex: vultures

Break down dead plants and animals.

Ex: Bacteria and fungus

In ONE direction only

Sun-Producers-Consumers-DecomposersReleased as heat
Autotrophs

Third-level heterotrophs

First-level heterotrophs

Second-level heterotrophs Decomposers

Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

Producers are organisms that take in and use energy from the Sun or some other source to produce food. Consumers are organisms that take in energy when they feed on producers or other consumers. When organisms die, other organisms called decomposers take in energy as they break down the remains of organisms.

Simplest exchange of energy.

Food Chains
A food chain is a model, a simple way of showing how energy, in the form of food, passes from one organism to another. When drawing a food chain, arrows between organisms indicate the direction of energy transfer.

Food Chains
Food chains usually have only three or four links. This is because the available energy decreases from one link to the next link.

In a food chain, the amount of energy left for the last link is only a small portion of the energy in the first link.

FOOD WEBS Food contains nutrients and energy needed for survival. When one organism is food for another some of the energy in the first organism (the food) is transferred to the second organism (the eater).

Food Webs
A food web is a series of overlapping food chains that exist in an ecosystem. A food web provides a more complete model of the way energy moves through an ecosystem.
The difference between Food Chains and Food Webs A food chain is a simple way of showing how energy, in the form of food, passes from one organism to another, from small producers to the predator at the top end of the chain. A food web is a series of interlocking food chains in an ecosystem.

Ecological Pyramids
Most of the energy in the biosphere comes from the Sun.

Producers take in and transform only a small part of the energy that reaches Earths surface.
An ecological pyramid models the number of organisms at each level of a food chain.
The bottom of an ecological pyramid represents the producers of an ecosystem. The rest of the levels represent successive consumers.

Shows how energy decreases by 90% at each trophic level.

Only 10% of the energy is passed onto the next level.

An energy pyramid compares the energy available at each level of the food chain in an ecosystem. A pyramid of energy usually has three or four levels Only about ten percent of the energy at each level of the pyramid is available to the next level

Organisms at the bottom of the pyramid are more numerous than at the top.

Photosynthesis
Living things are divided into two groups producers and consumersbased on how they obtain their food.

Organisms that make their own food, such as plants, are called producers. Organisms that cannot make their own food are called consumers.

Photosynthesis
Plants and many other producers can convert light energy into another kind of energychemical energy. The process they use is called photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, producers use light energy to make sugars, which can be used as food.

Producing Carbohydrates Producers that use photosynthesis are usually green because they contain a green pigment called chlorophyll (KLOR uh fihl). Chlorophyll and other pigments are used in photosynthesis to capture light energy.

In plant cells, these pigments are found in chloroplasts.

Producing Carbohydrates
The captured light energy is used to drive chemical reactions during which the raw materials, carbon dioxide and water, are used to produce sugar and oxygen. For plants, the raw materials come from air and soil.

Glucose is another name for sugar

Producing Carbohydrates
Some of the captured light energy is stored in the chemical bonds that hold sugar molecules together.

Storing Carbohydrates
Plants make more sugar during photosynthesis than they need for survival.
Excess sugar is changed and stored as starches or used to make other carbohydrates. Plants use carbohydrates as food for growth, maintenance, and reproduction.

Consumers take in food by eating producers or other consumers.

Respiration
Some of the energy from the food you eat is used to make you move. Some of it becomes thermal energy, which is why you feel warm or hot when you exercise. Most cells also need oxygen to break down food.

During respiration, chemical reactions occur that break down food molecules into simpler substances and release their stored energy.
Just as in photosynthesis, enzymes are needed for the chemical reactions of respiration.

Breaking Down Carbohydrates

The type of food molecules most easily broken down by cells is carbohydrates. Respiration of carbohydrates begins in the cytoplasm of the cell.
The carbohydrates are broken down into glucose molecules. Each glucose molecule is broken down further into two simpler molecules. As the glucose molecules are broken down, energy is released.

Breaking Down Carbohydrates

The two simpler molecules are broken down again. This breakdown occurs in the mitochondria of the cells of plants, animals, fungi, and many other organisms
.

This process uses oxygen, releases much more energy, and produces carbon dioxide and water as wastes.

Related Processes
During photosynthesis and respiration, what is produced in one, is used in the other.

Photosynthesis produces sugars and oxygen, and respiration uses these products.

The carbon dioxide and water produced during respiration are used during photosynthesis