Mr. Ward-Guthrie11/26/138th Grade Science

CHAPARRAL

Chaparral – What is it?

Shrubland found in southern California and northern Baja California

- Mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers- Important characteristic – serious wildfires!

The Food Web - Where does everything get its food?

The Sun

Plants

Herbivores

Carnivores & Omnivores

The Sun – The source of energy for life

Hydrogen is fused into helium in a nuclear reaction to produce energy

Producers of the Chaparral

Manzanita

Toyon

Scrub Oak

Chamise

Producers (green plants) produce their energy from the sun via photosynthesis.

Their fruit, seeds, and leaves are eaten by the primary consumers.

Primary Consumers of the Chaparral

Pinyon Mouse

Primary consumers eat the producers.

They, in turn, are eaten by the secondary and tertiary consumers.

Mule Deer

Pinacate Beetle

Ground Squirrel

Secondary Consumers of the Chaparral

Greater Roadrunner

Whiptail Lizard

Rattlesnakes

Secondary consumers are typically omnivores, both eating plants and animals.

They, in turn, are eaten by the tertiary consumers, the predators.

Big-eared Bat

Tertiary Consumers of the ChaparralTertiary consumers, also known as apex predators, are ‘top’ of the food web.

Carnivorous, they eat any level of consumer in the food web.

Bobcat

Coyotes

Golden Eagles

Energy – Where does it go?

In the food web, solar energy is passed along from the producers to the consumers.

Along the way, most of that original energy is lost, either as material that is not eaten (bone, stem, roots, etc.) or expended as the animal moves, breathes, reproduces or performs any of the functions required for life.

The circle of life is a not really a ‘circle’, but a complicated web of interactions.

The End