Food Webs and the Carbon Cycle

Food Webs & The Carbon Cycle Thursday, May 20, 2010

All energy on Earth comes from the sun.

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All energy on Earth comes from the sun.

Plants need light for photosynthesis.

What else do they need?

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co

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cross section of a leaf

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• During photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and

sunlight to create fuel-glucose and other sugars-they store as cellulose and starch. • This process forms the foundation of the biological

carbon cycle. cross section of a leaf

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

In the food chain, plants are the producers.

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Consumers are animals that cannot make their own food.

First level consumers feed on producers.

They are herbivores or vegetarians.

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Second level consumers feed on first level consumers.

predators; the first level consumers they eat are called prey.

Second level consumers are known as

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Third level consumers feed on second level consumers.

Consumers that eat both plants (producers) and animals (other consumers) are called

omnivores.

Consumers that eat only animals (other consumers) are called

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carnivores.

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Decomposers

break down waste products and dead organisms for food and release nutrients like carbon and nitrogen back into the soil.

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Scavengers and detritivores also feed on dead and decaying matter, but they leave plenty behind for the true decomposers to clean up.

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Energy flows through ecosystems from the sun, to producers, to consumers.

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0 Producer

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Herbivore

Carnivore 2째Carnivore

Energy flows through ecosystems from the sun, to producers, to consumers.

• Only 10% of the energy stored in an organism gets transferred from one trophic level (from producer to 1°consumer to 2°consumer etc...) to the next.

• Producing animal-based food is much less efficient than the harvesting of grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds and fruits.

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0 Producer

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Herbivore

Carnivore 2°Carnivore

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Nearly 1/2 of the total amount of water used annually in the U.S. goes to feed and provide drinking water for cattle and livestock.

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It takes 16

pounds of grain to make 1 pound of beef.

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Your dinner impacts our planet.

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Food Web

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Food Web

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Land + water = crops Land + water + crops = livestock

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"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

- Albert Einstein

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

What do you think?

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