FOODCHAINS,FOODWEBSANDECOLOGICALPYRAMIDS

Inanecosystem,plantscapturethesun'senergyanduseittoconvertinorganiccompoundsintoenergyrichorganiccompounds.This
processofusingthesun'senergytoconvertminerals(suchasmagnesiumornitrogen)inthesoilintogreenleaves,orcarrots,or
strawberries,iscalled
photosynthesis
.

Photosynthesisisonlythebeginningofachainofenergyconversions.Therearemanytypesofanimalsthatwilleattheproductsofthe
photosynthesisprocess.Examplesaredeereatingshrubleaves,rabbitseatingcarrots,orwormseatinggrass.Whentheseanimalseat
theseplantproducts,foodenergyandorganiccompoundsaretransferredfromtheplantstotheanimals.Theseanimalsareinturn
eatenbyotheranimals,againtransferringenergyandorganiccompoundsfromoneanimaltoanother.Exampleswouldbelionseating
zebras,foxeseatingrabbits,orbirdseatingworms.

Thischainofenergytransferringfromonespeciestoanother
cancontinueseveralmoretimes,butiteventuallyends.Itends
withthedeadanimalsthatarebrokendownandusedasfood
ornutritionbybacteriaandfungi.Astheseorganisms,referred
toasdecomposers,feedfromthedeadanimals,theybreak
downthecomplexorganiccompoundsintosimplenutrients.
Decomposersplayaveryimportantroleinthisworldbecause
theytakecareofbreakingdown(cleaning)manydead
material.Therearemorethan100,000differenttypesof
decomposerorganisms!Thesesimplernutrientsarereturned
tothesoilandcanbeusedagainbyplants.Theenergy
transformationchainstartsalloveragain.

Producers:
Organisms,suchasplants,thatproducetheirown
foodarecalledautotrophs.Theautotrophs,asmentioned
before,convertinorganiccompoundsintoorganiccompounds.Theyarecalledproducersbecauseallofthespeciesoftheecosystem
dependonthem.

Consumers:
Alltheorganismsthatcannotmaketheirownfood(andneedproducers)arecalledheterotrophs.Inanecosystem
heterotrophsarecalledconsumersbecausetheydependonothers.Theyobtainfoodbyeatingotherorganisms.Therearedifferent
levelsofconsumers.Thosethatfeeddirectlyfromproducers,i.e.organismsthateatplantorplantproductsarecalledprimary
consumers.Inthefigureabovethegrasshopperisaprimaryconsumer.

Organismsthatfeedonprimaryconsumersarecalled
secondaryconsumers.Thosewhofeedonsecondary
consumersaretertiaryconsumers.Inthefigureabove
thesnakeactsasasecondaryconsumerandthehawk
asatertiaryconsumer.Someorganisms,likethe
squirrelareatdifferentlevels.Whenthesquirreleats
acornsorfruits(whichareplantproduct),itisaprimary
consumerhowever,wheniteatsinsectsornestling
birds,itisatertiaryconsumer.Consumersarealso
classifieddependingonwhattheyeattheycanbe
herbivores,carnivores,omnivoresorscavengers.

Inlookingatthepreviouspicture,theconceptoffood
chainlooksverysimple,butinrealityitismore
complex.Thinkaboutit.Howmanydifferentanimals
eatgrass?AndfromtheFactsaboutRedtailedHawks
page,howmanydifferentfoodsdoesthehawkeat?
Onedoesn'tfindsimpleindependentfoodchainsinan
ecosystem,butmanyinterdependentandcomplexfood
chainsthatlookmorelikeawebandaretherefore
calledfoodwebs.

Wedescribedintheprevioussectionshowenergyand
organiccompoundsarepassedfromonetrophiclevel
tothenext.Whatwasnotmentionedistheefficiencyof
thetransfer.Inahighlyefficienttransferalmostallof
theenergywouldbetransferred80%ormore.Inalowefficiencytransferverylittleenergywouldbetransferredlessthan20%.Ina
typicalfoodchain,notallanimalsorplantsareeatenbythenexttrophiclevel.Inaddition,thereareportionsormaterials(suchas
beaks,shells,bones,etc.)thatarealsonoteaten.Thatiswhythetransferofmatterandenergyfromonetrophicleveltothenextisnot
anefficientone.

Onewaytocalculatetheenergytransferisbymeasuringorsizingtheenergyatonetrophiclevelandthenatthenext.Calorieisaunit
ofmeasureusedforenergy.Theenergytransferfromonetrophicleveltothenextisabout10%.Forexample,ifthereare10,000
caloriesatonelevel,only1,000aretransferredtothenext.This10%energyandmaterialtransferrulecanbedepictedwithan
ecologicalpyramidthatlooksliketheonebelow.

Thispyramidhelpsonevisualizethefactthatinanecologicalsystemthereneedtobemanyproducingorganismsatthebottomofthe
pyramidtobeabletosustainjustacoupleoforganismsatthetop.Inlookingatthepyramid,canyouguesshowmuchlargerthe
volumeofeachlayerisascomparedtotheonejustaboveit?Takeaguess.Itmightnotlooklikeitbuttheyarecloseto10times
larger.

Abasicpyramidshapeoftenrepresentsatypicalfood
chainorfoodweb.Thepyramidrepresentsthe
decreaseintheamountofenergy,thenumberof
organismsandthebiomassfromtheproducertothe
highorderconsumerlevels.Thedecreaseinthe
numbersandinthebiomassrepresentthefactthat,
duetoenergyloss,fewerorganismscanbesupported
ateachsuccessivetrophiclevel.

PyramidofEnergy

Energyislostbetweeneachlinkinafoodchain.Much
ofthepotentialenergyateachlevelneverreachesthe
nextlevel.Wheredoestheenergygoasitmoves
throughafoodchain?Someoftheenergythatenters
afoodchainisusedaseachorganismcarriesoutits
lifefunctions(i.e.foraging,metabolicprocesses,
reproduction,predator/preybehavior,etc.).Producers
manufacturetheirownfoodsourcedirectlyfrom
sunlightbytheprocessofphotosynthesis.Inorderto
carryoutlifefunctions,consumersacquireenergy
throughthe'burning'orbreakingdownoffood
moleculestheyconsume(eat).Thermalenergy(heat)
isproducedasaresultoftheburningofthesefood
molecules.Morethanhalfoftheenergyfromeachfoodmoleculeislostasheat.Onlyabout10%20%ofenergyateachtrophiclevel
isavailabletopassontothenextlevel.Inotherwords,ateachlevelthereisonlyabout10%availableenergytoputonnewbiomass
(growth).

PyramidofNumbers
Thelossofenergyateachtrophiclevelalsoexplainswhythereare
usuallyfewerorganismsineachhighertrophiclevel.Thetotalnumberof
plantsinaparticularareawouldgenerallybehigherthenthenumberof
herbivoresthattheplantssupportandthenumberofherbivoreswouldbe
higherthanthenumberofhigherordercarnivores.

PyramidofBiomass

Biomassisthetotalmassofdryorganicmatterperunit
of
area.Eachhighertrophiclevelcontainslessbiomass
thantheprevioustrophiclevel.Thereforeadrawingor
graphthatrepresentstheamountofbiomassateach
trophiclevelwouldalsoproducethebasicpyramid
shape.Biomassisrelatedtotheabundanceof
organismsateachtrophiclevel.

HumanImpactonFoodChainsandWebs

Humanshavetheabilitytohaveagreatimpactonecosystems.Livingorganismsareasignificantportionofanyecosystem,therefore
anyactivitythataffectsanecosystemisalsolikelytoaffecttheorganismswithinthatecosystem.Iforganismsareaffectedthefood
chainswebsthattheorganismsareapartofwillalsofeeltheaffects.