Biology

Food chains and webs

o Food chain: diagram that shows the transfer of energy between organisms and what an organism eats

Features a food chain:

 The first organism is the producer which
gets energy from the sun where its them
transferred into glucose by
photosynthesis, the producer is normally a
plant
 The second organism/primary consumer is a
herbivore as it eats plants
 The third organism/secondary consumer is a
carnivore as it eats an animal
 The fourth organism/tertiary is also a
carnivore
 The fifth organism/quaternary consumer is also called the decomposer
 The arrows show the transfer of energy from one organism to
another

o Predator: animal that eats other animals

o Prey: animal that is eaten by other animals
o Most food chains have 4 to 5 links because if they had more a
very little amount of energy would be transferred to the top
predator
o As energy is transferred to the surroundings by heating and as
waste products, meaning that as you go up the food chain less
energy is transferred
o Food web: diagram showing a set of linked food chains
o Energy can be lost by movement, respiration, heat lose and waste
(feces)
o Food pyramid is another way of presenting how energy is
transferred, by going up the levels the space decreases indicating less energy is transferred, which is 10% of energy
o Decomposers: organisms that break down dead material, turning waste into nutrients for the ecosystem, such as bacteria,
fungi and insects, this releases nutrients back into the soil or water
o Transfer from level one to level two is going to be 10% of 1000kJ = 100kJ
o Transfer from level two to level three is going to be 10% of 100kJ = 10kJ

Disruption to food webs and chains

o Interdependence: how organisms depend on one another to survive, grow, and reproduce
o Organisms are linked together to build multiple food chains within a food web. The size of one organism’s population
directly affects the size of other organisms’ populations. In an environment, for example, there is a disease that decreases the
rabbit population so it will also decrease the population of the fox (the rabbit’s predator) because there will be less food
available to both of them. This is an example of how changes in one population in a food web can impact the cycle of other
species in the ecosystem
o Animals such as herbivores are affected when the quantity of plants and other producers in an ecosystem decrease. Animals
may have to migrate to obtain enough to eat, or they may have to compete more for what is left. This change may also
make some species less common and others become more common. This may disrupt the ecosystem's food chain or web,
making it more difficult for animals to obtain food. So basically, if the producer's population decreases the rest of the
consumer population will decrease since they don't have a food source anymore.
o If the rabbit population decreases, their consumer population, like foxes will also decrease. Foxes will have trouble finding
enough food if there are fewer rabbits for them to eat, leading to a decrease in the number of foxes. Foxes might not go
particularly extinct if they could find other sources of food, like mice and insects. The number of those animals will then
decrease if foxes begin to hunt more mice and insects. Furthermore, when fewer rabbits are eating the grass, there is less
consumption of grass. The population of grass will then rise to the point that other herbivores who depend on grass for food
will have a bigger supply of grass.

o In ecosystems, it's not just energy that moves along the food chain; certain chemicals, like insecticides, can also be
transferred. Farmers use insecticides to kill bugs that harm their crops. Sometimes, these insecticides get washed into rivers
and then into the sea. Fish in the sea can soak up some of these chemicals and store them in their bodies. When seals eat
these fish, the chemicals get passed on to them and start
to build up inside their bodies. Since seals eat a lot of
fish, the amount of chemical they gather keeps
increasing, which can be harmful. Polar bears eat seals,
and because they eat a lot of them, they end up getting a
ton of those chemicals in their bodies. This buildup can
make polar bears ill or even because they can travel
through nature's food chain, getting more concentrated
as they go up, and causing big problems for animals like
polar bears.
o In nature, when animals eat other animals or plants, only
about 10% of the energy from their food is actually used
for growth and activities; the rest is lost mainly as heat.
This means that animals higher up in the food chain
have to eat a lot of food to get the energy they need. At
the same time, harmful chemicals from the environment can get into the food they eat. These chemicals build up in their
bodies over time, a process called bioaccumulation. Because each level of the food chain eats a lot and accumulates more
chemicals from their food, the amount of these harmful chemicals gets higher as you go up the food chain, in a process called
biomagnification. This is a big problem for marine animals at the top of the food chain, like some fish and birds, because
they end up with large amounts of these chemicals, which can make them sick or even cause death

Ecosystems
o Ecosystem: name given to the interaction between plants, animals and their habitat in a particular location
o Community: collection of different types of organisms present in an ecosystem
o Habitat: area in which an organism lives
o For example in a pond ecosystem the habitat is the pond and the community is the water plants, microorganisms, insects and
fish
o Co-exist: plants and animals living in the same habitat at the same time
o Population: group of one species living in the same area
o Abundance: measure of how common something is
o Quadrat: square frame of known area, such as 1m squared, that is placed on the ground to get a sample of the organisms
living in the small area
o There are two parts of an ecosystem the biotic, which include all living organisms within the ecosystem, such as plants,
animals, fungi, and microorganisms, and are living organisms; and the abiotic, which consist of non-living factors that
influence the ecosystem, including physical and chemical factors such as temperature, sunlight, water, soil, air, and nutrients,
these abiotic factors play crucial roles in shaping the structure and function of the ecosystem and directly affect the
distribution and behaviour of the biotic components which are non-living
o Niche: particular place or role that an organism has in an ecosystem
  At the root and litter zone; the
earthworms and woodlice live at the
base of the tree so their niche is to
break down the old leaves to release
nutrients that the tree can absorb for
new growth

 At the trunk area; the tree trunk

provides food or even shelter for a
number of insects and caterpillars

 At the branches and leaves area; many

organisms live amongst the branches
and leaves of the tree, so for example,
bees gather pollen and nectar when the
tree is in blossom. Fungi may grow on
the leaves. Squirrels gather acorns and
moths lay their eggs. Small birds such
as bluetits eat the moth larvae

o In any habitat, organisms coexist by occupying different niches, or roles, within their environment. For instance, consider the
ecosystem of an oak tree. At the tree's base, microorganisms break down old leaves, providing vital nutrients for the tree's growth
without competing with other organisms. Moving up the tree trunk, insects find refuge and resources, serving as prey for birds living
in the canopy. In turn, birds occupy a niche as secondary consumers, utilizing insects as a food source. Within the canopy, squirrels
gather acorns for sustenance, while bees collect pollen and nectar from flowers. These activities occur separately, allowing squirrels
and bees to coexist without conflict. By occupying different niches and utilizing specific resources, organisms minimize competition
and promote biodiversity within the habitat, contributing to the overall health and balance of the ecosystem.
o Scientist who study environments are called ecologists. They study the distribution of organisms in an ecosystem, which means
where exactly they live in the ecosystem and they also study the population of organisms in an ecosystem, which means how many
there are, this process is called environmental sampling, which is making a data sample of all the different organisms in an area