Question

What do you understand by energy flow in an ecosystem? Explain energy flow through different trophic levels. Draw line diagram of a food chain.

Answer 1

The ecosystem is an interaction between living beings and their physical environment. The most important characteristics of any ecosystem are energy flow and cycling of materials. Energy flow is always unidirectional. Energy flows progressively from one trophic level to another and cannot revert back. In most of the natural ecosystems, energy comes from the sun, it is trapped by producers and then pass on to successive trophic levels in the form of food.

The available energy decreases at higher trophic level. Out of the total energy available at a particular trophic level, only 10% is passed on to the next trophic level, making it impossible for energy to flow in the reverse direction. The flow of energy in an ecosystem occurs in the following sequence:

Sun ------> Producer ------> Herbivore -------> Carnivore -------> Decomposer