Activity 7: Energy Flow through an Ecosystem

food web

A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

food chain

A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy.

decomposers

obtain energy by feeding on the remains of other organisms

Producers

Organisms that make their own food

Autotroph

An organism that makes its own food

Heterotroph

An organism that cannot make its own food.

Consumer

An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms

primary consumer

consumer that feeds directly on producers

secondary consumer

An organism that eats primary consumers

tertiary consumers

eat secondary consumers

energy pyramid

Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web

Law of 10%

Only 10% of the energy available at each trophic level is passed onto the next trophic level. The other 90% is lost as heat energy.

trophic level

step in a food chain or food web

invasive species

species that enter new ecosystems and multiply, harming native species and their habitats