EFE - Energy Flow in an Ecosystem Module Overview
Go With the Flow!
Introduction
The cycling of matter and the flow of energy in ecosystems happens because of interactions among and between different organisms and the ecosystem. All ecosystems need matter and energy in order to survive. Matter is what fuels the energy forming and releasing reactions that provide the necessary fuel for life.
Look at the image below. This diagram shows two cycles. One is the cycle of energy, the other is the cycle of matter. Compare the two cycles.
- What is continuously being recycled?
- What is being released through out the cycle?
- What are the key players in both matter and energy cycles?
- What happens to an ecosystem if part of this circle disappears?
Module Lessons Preview
In this module, we will study the following topics:
What is Energy?
How do Organisms Get Energy?
Measuring Energy Flow
Flow of Nutrients in an Ecosystem
Key Terms
- 1st Law of Thermodynamics Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can be converted from one form to another.
- 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state. This is also commonly referred to as entropy.
- Autotroph: an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.
- Carbon Cycle: the continuous process by which carbon is exchanged between organisms and the environment. Carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere by plants and algae and converted to carbohydrates by photosynthesis. Carbon is then passed into the food chain and returned to the atmosphere by the respiration and decay of animals, plants, and other organisms. The burning of fossil fuels also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
- Cellular Respiration: is a set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and then release waste products.
- Consumer: person or thing that consumes other organisms for nutrients and energy.
- Ecological Pyramid: a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bio productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem.
- Energy : is the quantitative property that must be transferred to an object in order to perform work on, or to heat, the object.
- Entropy: a measure of the amount of energy in a system that is not available for doing work; disordered or unuseful energy, often dispersed as heat.
- Food Chain: a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.
- Food Web: a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.
- Heterotroph: an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from other organic substances.
- Nutrient cycles or biogeochemical cycles: describe the movement of nutrients throughout ecosystems (movements between Earth's abiotic and biotic systems). The word biogeochemical is a combination of bio ("life") geo ("earth") and chemical ("elements or compounds that cycle through the living and nonliving world").
- Nitrogen Cycle: the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition.
- Oxygen Cycle: the cycle whereby atmospheric oxygen is converted to carbon dioxide in animal respiration and regenerated by green plants in photosynthesis.
- Phosphorus cycle: inorganic phosphates (PO 4 3− , HPO 4 2− , or H 2 PO 4 − ) are absorbed by plants from the soil and bodies of water and eventually pass into animals through food chains. Within living organisms phosphates are built up into nucleic acids and other organic molecules. When plants and animals die, phosphates are released and returned to the abiotic environment through the action of bacteria.
- Photosynthesis: the biological process that captures light energy and transforms it into the chemical energy of organic molecules (such as glucose), which are manufactured from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis is performed by plants, algae, and several kinds of bacteria. The equation for photosynthesis is 6H2O + 6CO2 -‐ C6H12O6 + 6O2.
- Producer : organism that makes it’s own food.
- Thermodynamics refers to the study of energy transfers that occur in molecules or collections of molecules.
- Trophic level each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.
- Water Cycle (hydrologic cycle): the circulation of the earth's water, in which water evaporates from the sea into the atmosphere, where it condenses and falls as rain or snow, returning to the sea by rivers or returning to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration.
- Work: happens when energy is transferred from one system to another.
IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPEN SOURCE