Explain how energy flows through an ecosystem?

Energy flows through an ecosystem

• Solar energy is absorbed by autotrophs (producers) such as green plants and fixed into energy containing organic molecules in the process of photosynthesis.
• This energy incorporated into the organic molecules is called gross primary production (GPP). Some of the energy is lost as heat in respiration of the producer so that the amount of energy, called net primary production (NPP) becomes available to the primary consumer
• This energy is then transferred in from organic molecules, to primary consumer, then secondary and tertiary consumer through feeding in various food chains and food webs in an ecosystem.
• At each trophic level energy is lost as heat in respiration, through death or decaying of organic matter or undigested waste materials.
• Energy transferred is therefore reduce from producers through to tertiary consumers.
• However, the energy lost from organism through death and decay and through waste materials (egesta and excreta) is not last from the ecosystem. This energy is transferred to decomposers and detrivores when they feed on dead or decaying organic matter or on the waste materials.
• The energy then flows in the decomposer and detritus food chains, some of which is recycled to some tertiary consumer which feed on decomposers/detritus feeder.
• The rest of the energy is completely lost from ecosystem as heat in respiration of decomposers and detrivores.

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