MODULE 1:

BIOENERGETICS

ENERGY FLOW &

NUTRIENT CYCLING

OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lesson, students
should be able to:
distinguish among the terms ecosystem,
habitat, ecological niche using examples
discuss the way in which energy flows in
an ecosystem;
discuss the efficiency of energy transfer
between trophic levels;
discuss the concept of biological
pyramids;

OBJECTIVES CONTD
describe how nitrogen is cycled
within an ecosystem Including the
role of microorganisms.
distinguish between energy flow and
nutrient cycling within an ecosystem;
explain how energy flow and nutrient
cycling are important for ecosystems
to remain selfsustaining units.

Ecology
Ecology is the study of interrelationships between organisms and
their environment.
Its aim it to explain why organisms live
where they do.
To do this ecologists
studyecosystems, areas that can vary
in size from a pond to the whole
planet.

Definition of terms
TERM

DEFINITION

Ecosystem

A reasonably self-contained area together

with all its living organisms and their
environment, interacting with each other.

Habitat

The
physical
or abiotic part
of
an
ecosystem, i.e. a defined area with specific
characteristics where the organisms live,
e.g. oak forest, deep sea, sand dune, rocky
shore, garden pond, etc.

Community

The living or biotic part of an ecosystem,

i.e. all the organisms of all the different
species living in one habitat.

Biotic

Any living or biological factor.

Definition of terms contd

TERM

DEFINITION

Abiotic

Any non-living or physical factor.

Population

The members of the same species living in

one habitat.

Species

A group of organisms that can successfully

interbreed

Ecological Niche

The role of an organism in an ecosystem:

the effects that it has on the other
components of the ecosystem and the
effects they have on it.

Food Chains and Food Webs

The many relationships between the members of
a community in an ecosystem can be described
byfood chainsandwebs.
Each stage in a food chain is called atrophic
level, and the arrows represent the flow of
energy and matter through the food chain.
Food chains always start with
photosyntheticproducers(plants, algae,
plankton and photosynthetic bacteria).

Food Chains and Food Webs

Producers are able to extract both energy
and matter from the abiotic environment
(energy from the sun, and 98% of their
matter from carbon dioxide in the air, with
the remaining 2% from water and minerals
in soil).
All other living organisms get both their
energy and matter by eating other
organisms.

Food Chains and Food Webs

Aquatic Food Web

Terms associated with food

PRODUCER
chains/webs

An organism that
produces food from
carbon dioxide and
water using
photosynthesis. Can
be plant, algae,
plankton or bacteria.
HERBIVORE
A consumer that
eats plants (=
primary
consumer).

AUTOTROPH
An organism that
manufactures its
own food (=
producer)

CONSUMER
An animal that
eats other
organisms
TOP CARNIVORE
A consumer at
the top of a food
chain with no
predators.
HETEROTROPH
An organism that
obtains its energy
and mass from other
organisms
(=consumers +
decomposers)

CARNIVORE
A consumer that
eats other
animals (=
secondary
consumer).
OMNIVORE
A consumer that
eats plants or
animals.

Definitions
Term

Definition

Plankton

Microscopic marine organisms.

Phytoplankton

Predator

Plant plankton i.e. microscopic marine

producers.
Animal plankton i.e. microscopic marine
consumers.
An animal that hunts and kills animals for food.

Prey

An animal that is hunted and killed for food.

Scavenger

An animal that eats dead animals, but doesn't kill

them
Dead and waste matter that is not eaten by
consumers
Alternative word for detritus

Zooplankton

Detritus
Carrion
Decomposer

An organism that consumes detritus (= detrivores

+ saprophytes)

Detrivore

An animal that eats detritus.

Saprophyte

A microbe (bacterium or fungus) that lives on

detritus.

Definitions
Terms

Definition

Symbiosis

Organisms living together in a close relationship

(= parasitism, mutualism, pathogen).

Mutualism

Two organisms living together for mutual benefit.

Commensalism

Relationship in which only one organism benefits

Parasite

An organism that feeds on a larger living host

organism, harming it

Pathogen

A microbe that causes a disease.

The Significance of Food

Webs
The complex feeding relationship in an
ecosystem are linked to effective cycling of
important nutrients such as N and C compounds
as well as many mineral elements.
Complex food webs are linked to the stability of
ecosystems.
Knowledge of food webs may help to reduce the
damage done by humans to vulnerable
ecosystems.

Energy Flow through Ecosystems

Ecosystems maintain themselves by
cycling energy and nutrients obtained
from external sources.
At the firsttrophic level, primary
producers(plants, algae, and some
bacteria) use solar energy to produce
organic plant material through
photosynthesis.
Herbivoresanimals that feed solely on
plantsmake up the second trophic level.

Energy Flow through Ecosystems

Predators that eat herbivores comprise
the third trophic level; if larger
predators are present, they represent
still higher trophic levels.
Decomposers, which include bacteria,
fungi, molds, worms, and insects, break
down wastes and dead organisms and
return nutrients to the soil

Energy Flow through Ecosystems

On average about 10 percent of net
energy production at one trophic
level is passed on to the next level.
Processes that reduce the energy
transferred between trophic levels
include respiration, growth and
reproduction, defecation, and non
predatory death (organisms that die
but are not eaten by consumers).

Energy Flow through Ecosystems

The nutritional quality of material that is
consumed also influences how efficiently
energy is transferred, because consumers
can convert high-quality food sources into
new living tissue more efficiently than lowquality food sources.
The low rate of energy transfer between
trophic levels makes decomposers
generally more important than producers in
terms of energy flow.

Energy Flow through Ecosystems

Decomposers process large amounts
of organic material and return
nutrients to the ecosystem in
inorganic form, which are then taken
up again by primary producers.
Energy is not recycled during
decomposition, but rather is released,
mostly as heat (this is what makes
compost piles and fresh garden
mulch warm).

Energy Flow through Ecosystems

An ecosystem's gross primary
productivity (GPP) is the total
amount of organic matter that it
produces through photosynthesis.
Net primary Productivity (NPP)
describes the amount of energy
that remains available for plant
growth after subtracting the
fraction that plants use for
respiration.

Class Activity 1

Class Activity 2

Examine the food web

below and answer the
questions that follow.

1. How many
producers are there?
2. Name 2 secondary
consumers.
3. Name 1 herbivore
and 1 carnivore.
4. What trophic level
does the crab and
the fish occupy?
5. Write 2 food chains
from the food web
with no fewer than
four trophic levels.