Ch. 4.1 & 4.2: Energy, Producers & Consumers/Energy Flow in Ecosystems

Essential Questions:• What are primary producers?• How do consumers obtain energy &

nutrients?• How does energy flow through

ecosystems?• How do ecological pyramids help analyze

energy flow through trophic levels?

• Primary Producers• Autotrophs

– Energy from the sun• Photosynthesis

– Life without light• chemosynthesis

• Consumers• Heterotrophs

– Types of consumers– Beyond consumer categories

• Food Chains & Food Webs– Food chains• Phytoplankton

– Food webs• Food chains within food webs• Decomposers & detritivores in food webs

– Food webs & disturbances• Ecological pyramids– Pyramids of energy

– Pyramids of biomass & numbers