Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem. Activity 7: Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem LIMITED LICENSE TO MODIFY. These PowerPoint® slides may be modified only

Activity 7Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem

Activity 7: Energy Flow Through an EcosystemActivity 7: Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem

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Activity 7: Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem

Get Started

What examples of producers and consumers did you see in the previous activity?

Read the introduction


Get Started


Get Started


How can we use food webs to predict the short- and long-term effects of particular events on an ecosystem?

Challenge


Procedure

In step 8, when adding arrows to your food web, the arrows should point in the direction of the organism that is doing the eating to represent the pathway of energy.

Part A


Procedure

For step 13, be sure to discuss the short- and long-term effects of the event on the ecosystem.

Part B


Follow Up

Which level in the energy pyramid contains the most energy?

Which level contains the least amount of energy?


Follow Up

Why is there a different amount of energy available to the producers than to the tertiary consumers? What happened to the energy?


Follow Up

What is the difference between the role of an organism that is a producer and one that is a consumer? How is a decomposer different from other consumers?

Analysis 2


Follow Up

Explain the role of the sun in the kelp forest ecosystem.

Analysis 3


Follow Up

Describe the flow of energy in the kelp forest ecosystem.

Analysis 4


Imagine you are an ecologist who studies kelp forest ecosystems. You have been asked by the federal government to evaluate two plans for managing the California sheephead fishery, which relies on kelp forests. A summary of two proposals follows. Read the proposals and determine:◦A. how the two proposals differ.◦B. which proposal do you think the government should

implement

In your recommendation include a discussion of the trade-offs you considered.

Analysis 7


Take population counts of California sheepheads once every three months.

If the fish population is below sustainable levels, decrease the size of the allowed sheephead catch. If the sheephead population is at or above sustainable levels, keep the catch limit at current levels.

Cost to implement this proposal: $750,000

Proposal A


Take population counts of California sheepheads and sea urchins once every three months.

If the size of any population is below sustainable levels, decrease the size of the sheephead catch allowed. If the size of each population is at or above sustainable levels, keep the sheephead catch limit at current levels.

Cost to implement this proposal: $1,250,000

Proposal B


Revisit the Challenge

How can we use food webs to predict the short- and long-term effects of particular events on an ecosystem?

Return to the KWL chart from Activities 1 and 3 and add to the “What I Learned” column.

Revisit the Challenge


biodiversity consumers decomposers energy pyramid food web producers

Key Vocabulary

Documents

Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem. Activity 7: Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem LIMITED LICENSE TO MODIFY. These PowerPoint® slides may be modified only