Question

Explain the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

Answer 1

The organisms that are living on this earth depend on one another for their food. This is called the food chain. This food chain results in the formation of the trophic levels in an ecosystem. Hence the energy must be flowed from the one trophic level to the for the purpose of survival.

Complete answer:
In this food chain, producers form the base of the trophic level. The plants that produce their own food from the carbon dioxide and water with the help of sunlight by the process of the photosynthesis are called the producers. The green plant comes under this category and they do not depend on any other organism but depend only on the abiotic factors like the sunlight, water etc. All the other organisms depend on the producers for their food. The organisms that eat the green plants are called the herbivores.

They are called the primary consumer. The deer, cattle come under this category. The organisms that feed on the primary consumers are called carnivores. They are called the secondary consumer. The secondary carnivores eat the primary carnivores, they are called secondary consumers. The lion, snake, tiger is the example of the carnivores. Some of the organisms eat both plants and the animal’s organisms they are called the omnivores. The dogs, cats, birds etc. comes under this category. Hence except the producers all the other organisms directly or indirectly depend on the producers.

Note: The example of the food chain is grass, deer, tiger, eagle. Here the grass is the producer, deer is the primary consumer, tiger is the secondary consumer and the eagle is the tertiary consumer. Hence even though eagles feed on the tiger, it is also indirectly depending on the grass.