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Relationship Between Energy Flow & Food Chain

Everything eats sunlight or the byproduct of sunlight. Plants absorb sunlight and engage in a variety chemical processes that allow the plant to grow and thrive. Animals eat these plants and other animals often consume them. Food chains and energy flow can become very complex, since herbivores eat a variety of plants and then are consumed by predators, which eat a variety of animals.

Decomposers
- Predators consume predators and various microorganisms, and fungi consume all dead organisms. The decomposers, which include some animals, fungi and bacteria, recycle nutrients back into the soil. They release some energy by generating heat as they engage in metabolic processes. Some animals that want their energy consume them.
Consumers
- Each time an organism consumes another, the amount of energy transferred gets smaller, since consumers do not eat all the organisms they consume, releasing much of it through waste. In addition, organisms use the energy they consume or produce to carry out metabolic functions and engage in activities, such as chasing prey and fleeing predators. While using this energy, much of the energy leaves the body as heat. Therefore, each higher-level on the food chain must be smaller in population than the level below it. For example, there must be more mice than there are hawks. Otherwise, there would not be enough energy and some of the predators would starve. Animals at the top of the food chain need the most food to survive.
Photosynthesis and Respiration
- Producers, such as plants, generate energy from inorganic materials by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, water and sunlight. The sunlight causes a chain reaction that leads to the production of helpful energy sources, such as ATP. Animals must ingest organic matter and send the food through a digestion process that breaks it down into usable nutrients. Energy flows through the ecosystem in the form of carbon compounds. During respiration, carbon compounds are broken and the carbon combines with oxygen to create carbon dioxide. This action releases energy, which is used by the organism.
Specialists
- Some consumers are specialists. They focus on capturing and killing specific organisms. This allows them to develop more effective ways of hunting these organisms. However, non-specialist consumers often thrive because they are not dependent on the availability of a specific organism to survive. Some consumers are herbivorous, only eating plants. Others are carnivorous, only eating animals. The omnivorous animals eat everything. For example, the bullfrog will eat anything that it can fit in its mouth.

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