Question

Show with the help of a food chain that energy flow is linear.

Answer 1

1. Plants are the primary producers, they absorb solar energy to synthesize food.
2. This food is then used up by the primary consumers, they, in turn, are consumed by the secondary consumers, and the secondary by the tertiary consumers.
3. This flow of energy from the producers to the tertiary consumers is unidirectional or linear.
4. The dead and decaying matter resulting from the food chain is consumed by the decomposers which in turn revert the nutrients to the soil, ready to be consumed by the plants, causing the energy to reach the degraded state.
5. The process cannot be returned to the Sun to be cyclic, hence the energy flow in the ecosystem is linear.