7.12.B:  describe how ecosystems are sustained by the continuous flow of energy and the recycling of matter and nutrients within the biosphere.

Describe

HOW ECOSYSTEMS ARE SUSTAINED BY THE CONTINUOUS FLOW OF ENERGY AND THE RECYCLING OF MATTER AND NUTRIENTS WITHIN THE BIOSPHERE

Including, but not limited to: 

• Energy flows through an ecosystem.

  • Flow of energy requires a constant input of energy.

  • Sun – supplies all of the energy in an ecosystem 

  • Producers 

    • Plants and algae use the Sun’s light energy to make food energy.

      • Photosynthesis  

        • Producers use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make food, which provides energy for the producer to store, form plant matter, release oxygen, and grow.

        • Transforms light energy into chemical energy

    • Provides energy for the plant to grow and store for later 

    • Food that supports the rest of the food web 

  • Consumers – an organism that eats other organisms (plants and / or animals) for food / energy 

• Cycling of matter through an ecosystem   

  • Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and decomposers as these organisms live and die.

    • Water

    • Carbon dioxide

    • Oxygen

    • Carbon

    • Nutrients 

  • Decomposers transform matter from dead organisms into nutrients that can be recycled within the ecosystem. 

  • Matter and nutrients are taken in by plants.

  • Matter and nutrients pass to primary consumers when they eat the plants. 

  • Matter and nutrients pass to higher-level consumers when they eat lower-level consumers.

  • When living things die, the cycle repeats itself.