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Energy flow through Ecosystem

The document discusses energy flow through ecosystems, detailing how plants absorb sunlight and convert it into energy, which is then transferred through various trophic levels. It explains the roles of autotrophs, heterotrophs, and decomposers in energy transformation and highlights the 10% law of energy transfer between trophic levels. The conclusion emphasizes the dependence of living organisms on energy flow for growth and survival, noting that energy availability decreases as it moves through the ecosystem.

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Muhammad Wasay Mughal
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3 views

Energy flow through Ecosystem

The document discusses energy flow through ecosystems, detailing how plants absorb sunlight and convert it into energy, which is then transferred through various trophic levels. It explains the roles of autotrophs, heterotrophs, and decomposers in energy transformation and highlights the 10% law of energy transfer between trophic levels. The conclusion emphasizes the dependence of living organisms on energy flow for growth and survival, noting that energy availability decreases as it moves through the ecosystem.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Wasay Mughal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ASSIGEMENT

BIOLOGY
Group Members

Muhammad wasay
ARISHA
Energy flow through Ecosystem

Introduction:
The plants absorb as little as 1% of the emitted sunlight
from the sun, convert it into a form of energy sufficient to
power and support life on the earth. This occurs in a
sequence of nutrient flow cycles amongst the living and
nonliving components of the ecosystem. This guide helps
to understand the energy flow in an ecosystem.

What is the Flow of Energy called?


The energy that enters an ecosystem is calculated in the
form of calories or joules, and therefore the energy flow is
called "calorific flow."

Energy is the capacity to perform any work. Potential


energy is the stored energy or the energy at rest capable of
performing any work, and kinetic energy is the free
energy in motion.
Types of Energy Flow
 Converting the radiant energy in the form of
electromagnetic waves like sunlight into fixed potential
energy is done by the plants.
 Fixed potential energy, bound in many organic materials,
is broken down to release the stored energy.
 This occurs within the concept of the first law of
thermodynamics, which states that energy can neither be
created nor destroyed but only transformed from one form
to another.
 Organisms that fix radiant energy to produce organic
matter are "autotrophs."
 Organisms that depend on energy-rich organic matter
synthesized by the autographs are called "heterotrophs" or
consumers since they obtain energy from other living
organisms.
 Decomposers are bacteria or fungi that obtain their energy
from dead and decaying organisms.
 The second law of thermodynamics explains the
dissipation of heat energy into its surroundings during
energy flow.
 When it is emitted, sunlight or solar energy enters the
earth's atmosphere, is transformed into chemical energy,
and stored in organic matter in plants.
 When the herbivores feed on plants, they convert this
chemical energy into kinetic energy.
 Some energy is degraded during this process into heat
energy and released.
 Similarly, when carnivores feed on the herbivores and
secondary carnivores feed on the primary carnivores,
more energy will be degraded.
Stages of Energy Flow
 The producers and consumers are categorized into many
feeding groups known as trophic levels.
 Producers or plants form the first trophic level.
 Herbivores consume the trapped energy in the plants for
their energy, eaten by the carnivores. Hence food from the
first trophic level is transferred into the second trophic
level. This is called a food chain.
 Energy always flows in one direction within a food chain
from solar energy to producers to herbivores to
carnivores.
 The solar energy captured by the autographs does not go
back to the sun, flows progressively, and is unavailable to
the previous trophic levels once passed on.

There are three type of food chain in ecosystem


1. The Grazing Food Chain starts with the green plants
being consumed by the primary consumers (herbivores),
who the secondary consumers consume (carnivores), who
are in turn consumed by tertiary consumers (secondary
carnivores), and so on.
The energy produced by the green plants is used in
respiration, stored in the form of carbohydrates, proteins,
and fats used by the herbivores for their survival, and is
passed on to the carnivores, who have more complex
molecules.

The decomposers convert the stored energy and release it


into the environment upon their death.
2. The Parasitic Food Chain transfers energy from
larger organisms to smaller ones without predation.

3. The Detritus Food Chain comprises detritus or dead


organic matter such as metabolic wastes from the
grazing food chain. The energy within the residue is a
source of energy for detritivores such as bacteria,
fungi, algae, actinomycetes, slime molds, etc. They
decompose the organic matter, obtain chemical
energy, and release the remaining into simple organic
forms such as water.
SOURCE

The 10% law of Energy Transfer


Whenever energy is passed from one trophic level to the
next within an ecosystem, only about ten percent of it is
passed on. At the same time, the remaining are either
broken down during respiration or digested and lost. This
is also called ecological efficiency and was proposed by
Raymond Lindeman in 1942.
Conclusion:
 The growth, reproduction, and survival of living
organisms are dependant on the energy they obtain from
the energy flow through an ecosystem.
 As the energy is passed on from one level to another, the
quantity of available energy decreases.
 Still, there is stability due to the flow of energy in an
ecosystem.

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