Chapter 18.2 Living Things need Energy

1. Chapter 18.2 Living Things need Energy

2. Organisms can be divided into3groups based on how they get energy. • Producers • Organisms that use sunlight directly to make food are producers. This process is done by using photosynthesis. • Most producers are plants. Algae and some bacteria are producers, too.

4. Producer Examples:

5. Consumers: • Organisms that eat other organisms. They cannot use sunlight to make food. I.e. consumers eat producers or other animals. • There are several types of consumers. • Herbivore is an organism that eats only plants. • Carnivore is an organism that eats animals. • Omnivore is an organism that eats both plants and animals. • Scavengers are omnivores that eat dead plants and animals. • They also eat animals and plants that have died from natural causes

6. Examples of Consumers:

7. Decomposers • Organisms that get energy by breaking down dead organisms. • Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. • They remove stored energy from dead organisms. • Decomposers are important because they are nature’srecyclers.

8. Examples of Decomposers:

9. Food Chains and Food Webs • A food chain is a diagramthat shows how energy in food flows from one organism to another. (Simple food chains are rare) • A food web is a diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem. • In a food web, any energy not used immediately is stored and can be used by the next consumer. • There are2 main food webs on Earth: a land food web and an aquatic food web.

10. Food Chain Examples:

11. Food Web Examples:

12. Energy Pyramids • An energy pyramid is a diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy. • The pyramid has a large base and a small top. This means there is less energy at higher levels because only energy stored in the tissues of an organism can be transferred to the next level. • Grey Wolves and the Food Web • Brought back into Yellowstone in 1995. They have the goal of bringing populations back into balance.

13. Energy Pyramid: