Question

why is energy flow in an ecosystem always unidirectional​

Answer 1

This energy is then passed on from one organism to another in a food chain. ... Thus, the flow of energy in the ecosystem is said to be unidirectional because the energy lost as heat from the living organisms of a food chain cannot be reused by plants in photosynthesis.

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Answer 2

The flow of energy in the ecosystem is unidirectional. The energy enters the plants (from the sun) through photosynthesis during the making of food. This energy is then passed on from one organism to another in a food chain.

Energy given out by the organisms as heat is lost to the environment, it does not return to be used by the plants again. This makes the flow of energy in ecosystem 'unidirectional'. Thus, the flow of energy in the ecosystem is said to be unidirectional because the energy lost as heat from the living organisms of a food chain cannot be reused by plants in photosynthesis.

During the transfer of energy through successive tropic levels in an ecosystem, there is a loss of energy all along the path. No transfer of energy is 100 per cent. The energy available at each successive tropic level is 10 per cent of the previous level. Thus, there is a progressive decline (gradual reduction) in the amount of energy available as we go from producer level to the higher tropic levels of organisms.

The nutrient movement is a cyclic movement where the nutrients revolve round with an ecosystem, hence cyclic. Nutrients pass from abiotic nutrient stores, such as the soil and the atmosphere, into biotic, plant and animal stores (the biomass). The nutrients are then recycled, within the ecosystem, following death and decomposition.