Learning About Food Webs and Energy Pyramids Summary

     Food Webs and Energy Pyramids

     During this activity I learned about food webs and energy pyramids. Food webs can be defined as multiple food chains interacting with each other creating a complex set of relationships. These food webs "give ecologists a picture of how energy and materials move through a community."(Learning About Food Webs and Energy Pyramids). Ecologists use energy pyramids to show the flow of energy from one organism to the next.
From this activity I was able to recognize how the energy pyramid works and how food webs can visualize energy flows explained in the pyramid. The pyramid starts with base of producers who get their food from solar energy such as plants. Each level of the pyramid can be called a trophic level. The primary consumer that eats the plant only receives a small portion of the original energy. The secondary consumer eating the primary consumer then gets an even smaller portion of the original energy and so on. Each trophic level gets a smaller fraction of energy each time, this is the reason there are not many carnivores as there are primary and secondary consumers. "By the time the top level is reached, the supply of remaining energy has become quite small indeed."(Learning About Food Webs and Energy Pyramids).

     Each member of my group created a food chain out of cards containing a producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer and a decomposer. Decomposers are at the top because they break down the tissues of nonliving/living organisms. Putting them together we were able to create a food web that shows the interactions. You are able to see here the many interactions organisms have with each other and the different ways animals can get their energy. Many of the tertiary consumers eat many organisms from different trophic levels and from different food chains.

      The type of biome my food web represents is a semi-arid desert. The soil has good drainage that supports larger root systems and also supports a wider variety of animals and plants. A semi-desert biome is presumed to have organisms such as insects, skunks, coyotes, squirrels and a wide variety of plants. While not every specie above is said by fact to be in a semi arid desert, all of the organisms fit within this biome pretty easily.



References
Frey Scientific. Environmental Issues and Solutions Module Curriculum Guide. Nashua, New Hampshire: Frey Scientific, 2013. Print