3.2 Energy flow and nutrient cycling in ecosystems
4 min read•august 16, 2024
Ecosystems are all about energy flow and nutrient cycling. These processes keep life going, with plants capturing sunlight and nutrients moving through food webs. It's like a giant recycling system where everything's connected.
Understanding these cycles helps us see how ecosystems work and how we affect them. From carbon in the air to nitrogen in the soil, these cycles show how life and the environment are linked. It's crucial for grasping the bigger picture of biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Energy flow through ecosystems
Thermodynamics and energy transfer
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Energy flow in ecosystems follows the laws of thermodynamics (energy transfers and transforms but never creates or destroys)
Solar radiation serves as the primary energy source for most ecosystems
Autotrophs capture solar energy through
Autotrophs convert solar energy into chemical energy
Energy transfer between trophic levels operates at ~10% efficiency
Heat loss and metabolic processes account for the 90% energy loss
Ecological pyramids visually represent decreasing energy at higher trophic levels
Types include energy pyramids, biomass pyramids, and numbers pyramids
Net primary productivity (NPP) quantifies available energy for transfer to higher trophic levels
NPP accounts for energy remaining after producer
Food chains and food webs
Food chains model simple linear energy flow in ecosystems
Food webs illustrate complex interconnections between species in ecosystems
Both food chains and food webs demonstrate energy transfer between organisms
Examples of food chains:
Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Hawk
Phytoplankton → Zooplankton → Small fish → Large fish → Seabird
Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers
Primary producers (Autotrophs)
Organisms capable of synthesizing their own food from inorganic compounds
Primarily use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis for energy production
Examples of :
Terrestrial plants (trees, grasses, shrubs)
Algae and phytoplankton in
Chemosynthetic bacteria in deep-sea hydrothermal vents