interactions of the bay
Energy flow through systems
- The energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction. It starts from the sun, to producers and then to the heterotrophs. Energy is passed through the ecosystem in a food chain. The flow of energy is very important because it determines the ecosystem's capacity to sustain life.
- Sunlight is captured by plants (producers/autotrophs) during photosynthesis. The organisms that can't produce their own food are consumers/heterotrophs. They depend on producers for energy and they are carnivores (animals ONLY), herbivores (plants ONLY), omnivores (plants and animals), decomposers or detritivores (scavengers).
- Below is an example of a terrestrial and aquatic food chain:
Influences in growth of populations
Biotic and abiotic factors determine an organism's chance for survival and can extend or reduce the life of an individual. Over time, they can lead to the overall population's increase or decrease. Biotic factors determine a population change such as the availability of food and the prescence of predators. For example, if there were no clams in the Bay, the smaller fish would starve and gradually decrease if they can't find any other food source. Abiotic factors determine a population change such as climate, light, soil conditions and shelter. For instance, if a chemical was released into the Bay, then the organisms would over time die and the Bay would have no more life.