Energy Flow through the Ecosystem Mind Map
← Energy Flow through the EcosystemHow energy from the sun flows through food chains and food webs, and how matter is recycled between living things and their environment.
- producerAn organism that makes its own food using light energy or chemical energy.Grass is the producer in this food chain.
- consumerAn organism that gets food and energy by eating or absorbing material made by other organisms.A rabbit is a consumer because it eats plants.
- primary consumerAn animal that eats producers. It is the first animal in a food chain.A grasshopper is a primary consumer.
- secondary consumerAn animal that eats plant-eating animals.A snake that eats mice is a secondary consumer.
- tertiary consumerAn animal that eats animals that eat other animals. It is near the top of a food chain.A hawk that eats snakes is a tertiary consumer.
- decomposerAn organism, such as a fungus or bacterium, that breaks down dead material and releases nutrients into the environment.A mushroom is a decomposer on the forest floor.
- herbivoreAn animal that mainly eats plants or other producers, such as algae.A deer is an herbivore.
- carnivoreAn animal that mainly eats other animals.A wolf is a carnivore.
- omnivoreAn animal that eats both plants and animals.A raccoon is an omnivore.
- food chainA path showing how energy passes from one living thing to the next when one eats another.Grass, rabbit, fox is a simple food chain.
- food webMany food chains in an ecosystem connected together.The food web shows that owls eat mice and snakes.
- energy pyramidA diagram that shows how much energy is available at each level of a food chain.The energy pyramid is widest at the bottom.
- trophic levelA feeding level in a food chain, like producers or primary consumers.Only about 10% of the energy passes up to the next trophic level.
- photosynthesisA process in which plants, algae, and some bacteria use light energy to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water, releasing oxygen.Photosynthesis brings the sun’s energy into the food web.
- cellular respirationProcesses that release usable energy from food molecules; the oxygen-using form produces carbon dioxide and water.Cellular respiration gives a running deer the energy it needs.
- nutrientA substance that living things need for growth, repair, or other life processes.Decomposers return each nutrient to the soil.
- carbon cycleThe way carbon moves between the air, living things, the ocean, and rocks.Burning wood adds carbon dioxide to the air and changes the carbon cycle.
- matterAnything that has mass and takes up space.Matter is recycled in an ecosystem, but energy flows through and is lost as heat.