The document provides information about autotrophs and heterotrophs, the flow of energy through ecosystems, trophic levels and ecological pyramids. It defines producers as organisms that can make their own food, either from sunlight or chemicals, and heterotrophs as organisms that rely on other organisms for food and energy, such as herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. It also discusses food chains, food webs, trophic levels, and how ecological pyramids illustrate the relative energy and biomass between trophic levels in an ecosystem.

1. Warm up for today:
• Read about autotrophs
and heterotrophs on
pages 41 & 42. Complete
the “Concept Map” from
the board.

2. Ecology

3. Flow of Energy
• Sunlight is the main
source of energy for
all life on earth.
• Producers
–either make their
own food from the
sun or chemicals
(mostly from the
sun).
–Autotrophs &
Chemotrophs

4. Consumers
• Heterotrophs:
Organisms that rely
on other organisms
for food and energy
–Herbivores: eat
plants
–Carnivores: eat
other animals
–Omnivores: both
plants and
animals

5. Consumers
– Detritivores:
feed on
animal
remains and
other dead
matter
– Decomposers:
break down
organic
matter

6. Feeding
Relationships
• Food chains
–Show the one way flow of
energy in an ecosystem
• Food Webs
–Describes all of the possible
feeding relationships in an
ecosystem

11. Trophic Levels
• Each step in the food chain or
food web is called a trophic
level.
• Ecological pyramid
–Shows the relative energy
movement through the
environment.
–Only 10% is available to move
onto the next level

13. Chapter 2 Principles of Ecology
2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem
Ecological Pyramids
 A diagram that can show the relative
amounts of energy, biomass, or numbers of
organisms at each trophic level in an
organism