Completed 4 2
Uploaded by
blic_1Completed 4 2
Uploaded by
blic_1Sara Purković
Marta Ružić
4.2 Energy flow
Feeding Patterns
Define trophic level: The position an organism occupies within a feeding sequence
Use the following animals (and any type of plant matter) to construct three food chains with four
levels:
Food chain: grass -> rabbit -> fox -> wolf
Food chain: shrub -> slug -> spider -> lizard
Food chain: algae -> shrimp -> fish -> turtle
Differentiate between a food chain and a food web: Food chains show the linear feeding
relationships between species in a community while food webs show inter-related feeding
relationships between species
State what an arrow represents in a food chain or food web: The arrow represents the direction of
energy flow pointing towards consumer
Distinguish between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores:
Herbivore: Feeds exclusively on plant matter
Carnivore: Feeds exclusively on animal matter
Omnivores: Feeds on both plant and animal matter
Construct a food web from the following information (including trophic levels occupied per
organism) • Red foxes feed on raccoons, crayfish, grasshoppers, red clover, meadow voles and
squirrels • Red clovers are eat by grasshoppers, muskrats, red foxes and meadow voles • Meadow
voles, squirrels and raccoons all eat parts of the white oak tree • Crayfish feed on green algae and
detritus, and they are eaten by muskrats and red foxes • Raccoons feed on muskrats, meadow voles,
squirrels and white oak
Sara Purković
Energy Transfer
State the initial source of energy for almost all communities: Light
How efficient are most biological energy transformations: Most energy transformations are only ~ 5
- 20% efficient
List three ways in which energy may be lost from one trophic level to the next:
1. Heat
2. Converted into other form of energy
3. Stored chemical energy remains unconsumed
Describe the flow of energy in ecosystems:
Light energy is converted into chemical energy by producers via photosynthesis The organic
molecules are converted into a usable energy form via cell respiration Heterotrophs ingest these
organic compounds in order to undergo cell respiration Energy transformations are only ~10%
efficient, the majority of the energy is lost as heat.
With the aid of the following diagrams, explain the reasons for the shape of a pyramid of energy:
Pyramids of energy show the amount of energy at each trophic level of a food chain. They will
never appear inverted as some of the energy at each trophic level is always lost upon transfer. Each
Sara Purković
Marta Ružić
level should be roughly one tenth the size of the previous level. Producers will always occupy the
bottom level of a pyramid of energy.
State the units of measurement used in a pyramid of energy: kJ m–2 year–1
Define biomass: Biomass is the total dry weight of organic matter in organisms or ecosystems