Energy Flow

This week's assignment was to depict a food chain to illustrate the flow of energy from one organism to the next.

A Producer

The Producer

Producers create energy through photosynthesis that not only sustains themselves but makes energy available for the consumers. I zoomed in on this plant that is starting to push it's way out from underneath the leaf layer to reach the sunlight.







Primary Consumer

Primary Consumer

The consumers depend upon the producers as a energy source. The primary consumers feed upon the green plants to meet their nutritional needs. This photo of a doe was taken from a camouflaged blind as it was browsing across a logging road. It was near dusk when this was taken and I needed to lighten it a little bit. The click of the camera, although it is very quiet, sent her running off to safety.





Secondary Consumers


Secondary consumers receive their energy by feeding on the primary consumers. With each step of the food chain, energy is lost due to the needs of the prey species, only a small portion of the initial energy reaches the higher level consumers. While I could not get a photo of a living coyote, I did come across evidence of the interaction between predator and prey in the form of the remains of a fawn killed by a coyote. There were coyote tracks all around the site, they appeared to be of different sizes.