Question

Comment upon the statement: “The flow of energy in an ecosystem is linear and unidirectional.”

Answer 1

The statement “Flow of energy in an ecosystem is linear and unidirectional” means:

1. We know that the energy flow in the ecosystem is from lower levels to higher levels. It is unidirectional. The flow of energy cannot be reversed from higher to lower levels.
2. The flow of energy is linear as the flow of energy is from producers to consumers. It is neither branched nor does it skip a level.
3. The Best way to understand this is with an example. Consider, the below food chain

$Plant\to Insects\to Frogs\to Snakes\to Hawks$

Here, the energy transfer is from plants to insects to frogs to snakes then hawks. Frogs cannot feed off of plants, and snakes on insects. Likewise, the food chain cannot be reversed as in plants eating animals. The food chain is thus maintained.

Hence, we can say that the flow of energy in an ecosystem is linear and unidirectional.