please give an 2 page explanation of energy flow and its importance
Answers
Explanation:
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A unit composed of biotic components (i.e. producers, consumers and decomposers) and abiotic components (i.e. light, heat, rain and humidity, inorganic and organic substances) is called an ecosystem.
A unit composed of biotic components (i.e. producers, consumers and decomposers) and abiotic components (i.e. light, heat, rain and humidity, inorganic and organic substances) is called an ecosystem.
The existence of living beings such as plants and animals depends on the flow of energy in them. Energy is needed for all the biotic activities. The most significant source of energy for all ecosystems is the sun.
The energy received on the earth from the sun is utilised in different ways. Nearly 56-60% part of the incident energy is absorbed by the atmosphere, nearly 10% is utilised in the heating of water and land, and only 8% solar energy is incident on plants. Plants absorb most of the energy falling on them. Out of the absorbed energy, plants use only 0.02% in photosynthesis for producing their food. They are called the producers.
Food chain
Let us take the example of a water body in order to understand the food chain in an ecosystem. Here the photosynthetic aquatic plants and bacteria act as producers. The food synthesized by the producers is utilised by the primary consumers (such as krill). The primary consumers are eaten by the secondary consumers (such as small fish) and in turn they are consumed by the tertiary consumers (such as large fish). The tertiary consumers may be eaten by man. The man may be the last consumer in this chain of energy transfer when he eats the fish.
Application of laws of Thermodynamics in Energy flow:
The flow of energy in the process of entrance, transformation and diffusion in the ecosystem is governed by the laws of thermodynamics.
According to the first law of thermodynamics, the energy can be transformed from one form to the other form, but it can neither be created nor destroyed. When a certain amount of one form of energy is destroyed, then the same amount of another form of energy is created.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, when energy is put to work, a part of it is always converted into an unusable form of energy, mainly as heat energy, due to friction and radiation. For example, when we apply electric energy to operate a machine, some of the electric energy applied is converted into heat as a result of the friction between the moving parts of the machine. This means that some part of the electric energy applied gets converted into heat, which is in effect a useless form of energy.
However, in all such cases, the total sum of energy applied and the total energy produced in the form of useful and unusable energy remains equal.
Even in an ecosystem, the energy used in processes such as respiration or in decay (or death) appears as an unusable form of energy because this energy does not reach the consumer of the next stage. So just like a machine, in an ecosystem too, the energy transfer is not 100% efficient. A portion of the transferred energy always transforms into an unusable form, in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics.
In this way, an ecosystem is an excellent example in nature, of the laws of Physics and energy flow in the Universe.