food webs and the carbon cycle

Food Webs & The Carbon Cycle

Thursday, May 20, 2010

All energy on Earth comes from the sun.


Plants need light for photosynthesis.

What else do they need?

All energy on Earth comes from the sun.


co2

cross section of a leaf


co2

• During photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and

sunlight to create fuel-- glucose and other sugars-- they store as cellulose and starch.

• This process forms the

foundation of the biological carbon cycle.

cross section of a leaf


In the food chain, plants are the producers.


Consumers are animals that cannot make their own food.

First level consumers feed on producers.

They are herbivores or vegetarians.


Second level consumers feed on first level consumers.

Second level consumers are known as predators;

the first level consumers they eat are called prey.


Third level consumers feed on second level consumers.

Consumers that eat both plants (producers) and animals (other consumers)

are called omnivores.

Consumers that eat only animals (other

consumers) are called carnivores.


Decomposers break down waste products and dead organisms for food and release nutrients like carbon and nitrogen back into the soil.


Scavengers and detritivores also feed on dead and decaying matter, but they leave plenty behind for the true decomposers to clean up.


Energy flows through ecosystems from the sun, to producers, to consumers.

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Producer Herbivore Carnivore 2°Carnivore


• Only 10% of the energy stored in an organism gets transferred from one trophic level (from producer to 1°consumer to 2°consumer etc...) to the next.

• Producing animal-based food is much less efficient than the harvesting of grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds and fruits.

Energy flows through ecosystems from the sun, to producers, to consumers.

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Producer Herbivore Carnivore 2°Carnivore


Nearly 1/2 of the total amount of water used annually in the U.S. goes to feed and provide

drinking water for cattle and livestock.

It takes 16 pounds of grain to

make 1 pound of beef.


Your dinner impacts our planet.Thursday, May 20, 2010

Food Web


Food WebLand + water = cropsLand + water + crops = livestock


"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."- Albert Einstein


What do you think?


food webs and the carbon cycle

Documents

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trophic level

plants producers

food webland water

food webthursday

food webs

food chain

energy flows