4.7 - Energy Efficiency

- pyramid of energy 
- 100% of producer at the start but only 10% makes it to the primary consumer level and only 1% makes it to the secondary consumer level 
- Causes of Losses 

- 100kj of grass energy - represents grass eaten by the herbivore 
- only 10kj of the original 100kj will become of the mouses body and tissue 
- reasons for this: mouse have to walk around and fine their food and carry out the process of respiration 
- not ALL 100kj is available for the mouse such as the cellulose (cell wall) cannot be digested and this contains energy - this is lost in the form of feces 
- 90kj of energy left is lost from respiration and undigested food 
- When the owl eats the mouse it can only get 1% of the original 100% so it gets 1kj of grass
- Losses in the owl is from respiration, producing energy for flight, digestion, movement, the nervous system 
- not ALL of the mouse is available to the mouse 
- ALL organisms finally die and are broken down by micro-organisms living on the dead and decaying remains of other micro-organisms 

4.6 - Energy and substances in food chains

- Bushgrass eaten by impala - Bushgrass is the producer, Impala is the primary consumer, leopard is the secondary consumer, lion is the tertiary
- producer turns light energy into chemical energy - takes the form of organic molecules including carbohydrates, proteins and lipids --> what we call food 
- These molecules are composed of C-H bonds, C-O bonds, C-C bonds, O-H bonds and C-N bonds - ALL represent energy 
- C H O N are the substances/matter - contain the energy from the sunlight 
- Impala consumes this for growth and respiration and life processes - then the leopard consumes the impala passing on the same molecules, reorganizes them into leopard form and then to the lion who reorganizes them as well 
- What is passing is the 'matter' and energy (in the bonds) 

4.5b - Food Webs

- Food webs allow better description of the ecosystem (community of organisms which are interacting - feeding) 
- Food web allows us to show organisms feeding at different trophic levels 
- consequences of feeding at diff levels - organisms can have multiple predators
                                                                      - organisms may be feeding on multiple pray 
                                                                      - results in food chains becoming linked 
- producer is grass 
- P.C - rabbit, beetles, slugs, mice, woodlice
- S.C - small birds, badger, hawk 
- T.C - Hawk 

4.5a - Food Chains

- Food China links together Producer to the 1st consumer, 2nd consumer and 3rd consumer. 
- Only one organism per trophic level 
- Food chain cannot show an organism being an omnivore 
- Cannot show them feed at more than 2 trophic levels 
- Food chains show the flow of matter and energy 

4.4 - Trophic Levels

- trophic means to feed 
- carrot plant - photosynthesis - PRODUCER 
- carrot fly - is a herbivore because it is eating part of the carrot plant - PRIMARY CONSUMER
- Fly catcher - Carnivore because it eats the carrotfly - SECONDARY CONSUMER
- Sparrow Hawk - Top carnivore eats the flycatcher - TERTIARY CONSUMER


- Producer turns light energy into chemical energy 
- Primary Consumer takes in the chemical energy of the plant and changes it into chemical energy of the fly
- Secondary Consumer  changes the chemical energy like the primary consumer 
- Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumer, taking in the molecules of the fly catcher and changing them into suitable energy for the sparrow hawk 


- All organisms die and are then broken down by decomposers - Fungi and Bacteria - recycling of molecules - break down complex molecules into nitrates and phosphates 

4.3 - Quadrates Samples

- Sand Dune - sampling the population of Daisies 
- Sample has to be random so no biased is introduced 
- Sample has to be representative, Large enough so that our estimate population,  is as close as the true population as possible. 
- Set up a Grid system on the field -  Grid is equal sizing. 

- Generate Random Numbers for the x and y coordinates

- Count the number of daisies in that square. 
- Need a representative sample - bigger the better - about 10 quadrates or 10% of the actual area 
- When collecting data tabulate it like: 






















-  This gives number of daisies per meter squared 
- Using this technique you can estimate the population of daises in one area but also can use the technique to compare the number of daisies in more than one area 

4.2 - Quadrates

- Sand Dune ecosystem - made up of a number of populations which form the community and the Habitat 
- Count the number of individuals in the population 
- Quadrating - Square Grid - used to sample different locations and count the number of individuals in the grid 
- Repeated several times to get an estimate of the population size 

4.1 - Ecosystems

- Ecosystem --> Community of organisms - Made up of Populations of different species and their interacting. 
- Population - number of individuals of a particular species 
- Species - Organisms that reproduces to give fertile offspring
- Interactions - Feeding 
                       --> Habitat - Includes all Abiotic factors (non-biological), Daylight/ Dark,                                                                      Temperature, Rainfall, Humidity, Slope of the land, Geology. 


- Ecosystem is a community of organisms in a particular habitat - made up of different populations of different species interacting within that habitat