Trophic Levels  and Food Chain Pyramids

 

The first level or producers are the autotrophs. Autotrophs create food for themselves.. After the producer level, comes the primary consumer. These guys are your basic herbivores that acquire their energy from eating the producers. The secondary consumers survive off of eating the first level consumers. And finally on top, are the apex predators, also known as tertiary consumers. 

There are two types of pyramids which are the pyramid of energy and the pyramid of biomass. The pyramid of energy always moves in one direction and decreases at a succeeding trophic level. The total transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next is only about 10% or less. This is called the energy conversion efficiency. As organisms consume food that metabolizes the body it is give off as waste which causes energy loss into the environment. A pyramid biomass shows the weight of living material at each trophic level. Biomass is calculated by finding  the weight of each species at a trophic level and multiplying the weight of the estimated number of organisms in each population

 

 

Methods: 

1.      Choose one of the five ecosystems given. 

2.      The instruction set to the left gives general understanding as to how this experiment                    works so read it through!

3.      Drag and drop organisms into their trophic levels.  

4.      There is a "check" button at the button of the screen and can be used at any time to see if            an organism has been placed in the correct or incorrect space.  

5.      There are two additional options at the bottom of the pyramid. They are the pyramids of              Energy and Number. 

6.      The pyramid of energy shows how much energy is available at each trophic level. 

7.      The pyramid of numbers shows the amount of organisms within a trophic level. 

8.      After completing and viewing the different types of pyramids you can select reset and                  move on to another one of the 5 ecosystems. 

9.      Complete the analysis and conclusion for your lab report! 

 

What's the purpose of the sun and plants? 

The sun is a major provider for growth and warmth on earth. Without the sun there would not be any food chain or life for that matter because it is the sun that gives life to all organisms on Earth. The sun more importantly aids the health for producers which are the organisms at the start of the food chain. Plants, for example,e are excellent producers for they provide food and nutrients for hetertrophs higher up the trophic levels.

 

Conclusion: 

During this lab we explored the workings of an ecosystem and what allows it to function. From the producer to the third-level consumer they are all equally important. The various trophic levels explain how much energy is actually needed for each trophic level to survive efficiently. Additionally, we learned that the trophic levels have to have a balance. If the food chain becomes unstable or experience an extinction of many organisms it will collapse or witness drastic negative effects. The overall conclusion that was learned was that there are five different ecosystems that contain organisms that make up the food chain. The food chain is made up of producers along with three levels of hetertrophs that are responsible for balancing out the food chain and if unbalanced can lead to an irreversible collapse.