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Energy Flow

The document discusses energy flow through ecosystems. It explains that: 1) Solar energy is captured by plants through photosynthesis and converted into chemical energy stored in plant tissues, starting the energy flow through ecosystems. 2) This energy passes from primary producers to primary consumers to secondary consumers, with some energy lost at each transfer between trophic levels. 3) Tropical rainforests and estuaries have the highest primary productivity due to factors like sunlight, water availability, and nutrients, while deserts have low productivity due to lack of water.

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jminati54
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19 views

Energy Flow

The document discusses energy flow through ecosystems. It explains that: 1) Solar energy is captured by plants through photosynthesis and converted into chemical energy stored in plant tissues, starting the energy flow through ecosystems. 2) This energy passes from primary producers to primary consumers to secondary consumers, with some energy lost at each transfer between trophic levels. 3) Tropical rainforests and estuaries have the highest primary productivity due to factors like sunlight, water availability, and nutrients, while deserts have low productivity due to lack of water.

Uploaded by

jminati54
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AECC -1/OSOU

They serve certain


a) Energy flow across the food chain
b) Nutrient cycling (biogeochemical cycles)
c) Ecological succession or ecosystem development
d) Homeostasis or feedback control mechanisms.

Energy flow

In ecosystems, everything organisms do (breathing, running, burrowing, and growing)


requires energy. So, how do they go about obtaining it? Plants and animals interact
constantly in an ecosystem. To generate and trade materials with animals and their
surroundings requires a lot of energy. The sun generates material cycling. The sun, whether
directly or indirectly, is the ultimate source of energy for all living things of different
types. The sun energy is captured by green plants, which is then converted through a
process known as photosynthesis. Photosynthesis converts food (organic materials) into
chemical energy, which they then store in their tissues. This method is followed. Primary
production is what it is termed.

Gross primary productivity is the rate at which green plants (primary producers) create
total organic matter. Some of the energy is used by green plants in the process of
respiration. The remaining energy is referred to as net primary production, which is the
amount of energy available to heterotrophic organisms. Other creatures take the energy in
this stored form and pass it on to other organisms. A significant amount of energy is
wasted from the biological system during this process. The rate of energy assimilation at
the consumer level is referred to as secondary productivity.

The entire process is known as energy flow. The most outstanding feature of this energy
flow is that it is unidirectional, one-way, and non-cyclic. It moves from producer to
herbivore to carnivore creatures, but unlike nutrients, it is never recycled back into the
food chain. At each level, there is a steady loss of energy as the flow of energy occurs.
The primary productivity of an ecosystem is determined by solar radiation, water
availability, nutrient availability, and the chlorophyll content of the plants. Tropical
rainforests and estuaries have the highest productivity. Tropical rainforests’ higher
productivity is mostly due to a favorable mix of high incoming solar radiation, moderate
temperatures, abundant rainfall, and a diverse range of organisms. As a result of these
variables, the growing season is extended to virtually the entire year. Natural wave
currents in estuaries transport a large number of nutrients that are favorable to growth.
Desert ecosystems, on the other hand, are limited by a lack of appropriate water supply,
whilst tundra ecosystems are limited by low water temperature, resulting in low primary
output.

 Energy can be transformed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or
destroyed, according to the First Law of Thermodynamics. The total amount of
energy and matter in the Universe does not change; it simply takes on different

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AECC -1/OSOU
forms. Energy is the driving force behind all metabolic activities. In the
environment, energy flow is the unidirectional flow of energy from the producer
to the top consumers. The study of trophic level interaction in an ecosystem offers
information on the energy flow in the ecosystem.
 Energy flow is the movement of energy through living organisms in a given
environment.
 A food chain can be built by separating all living species into producers and
consumers.
 A trophic level is a name given to each nutritional level in the food chain.
 To better illustrate the abundance of species at each trophic level, these food
chains are subsequently aggregated into trophic pyramids.
 The energy flow along the food chain is unidirectional, with the head of an arrow
indicating the direction of energy flow; energy is lost as heat at each stage.

Trophic level interaction

 A trophic level is a representation of energy flow in an ecosystem.


 The trophic level of an organism refers to its position in the food chain.
 Trophic level interaction refers to how individuals in an ecosystem are
connected based on their nutritional needs.
 Energy is transferred uni-directionally through the trophic levels, from
producers to subsequent trophic levels.
 The energy level lowers from the first trophic level onward due to the loss of
energy in the form of heat at each trophic level.
 At each trophic level, this energy loss is significant. As a result, only four to
five trophic levels are usually present (beyond this the energy available is
negligible to support an organism).
 The trophic level interaction involves three concepts:
a) Food chain
b) Food web
c) Ecological pyramid

Food chain

 A food chain is a series of creatures in which nutrients and energy are transferred
from one organism to the next in the form of food. For survival in an ecosystem,
the food chain specifies who consumes who. In an ecosystem, the food chain also
serves as a means of transferring energy. The energy is generated by 'Producers,'
then transported to 'Consumers,' and finally to 'Decomposers.'

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