Understanding the Energy Pyramid

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Energy Pyramid

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Diagram showing energy flow in an ecosystem

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Producers

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Organisms that make their own food (e.g., plants)

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Primary Consumers

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Herbivores that eat producers

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Secondary Consumers

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Carnivores that eat primary consumers

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Tertiary Consumers

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Top predators in the energy pyramid

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Energy Transfer

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Only about 10% of energy is transferred to the next level

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Energy Loss

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90% of energy lost as heat at each level

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Decomposers

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Break down dead organisms, recycle nutrients

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Food Chain

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Direct sequence of who eats whom

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Food Web

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Complex network of interconnected food chains