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Energy flow
 
 
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In ecology
Ecology

Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
, energy flow (calorific flow) refers to the flow of energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
 through a food chain
Food chain

Food chains, also called, food networks and/or trophic social networks, describe the eating relationships between species within an ecosystem....
.

In following energy flow in an ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
, ecologists seek to quantify
Quantify

Quantify may refer to:* Quantitative, attribute that can be measured.* IBM Rational Quantify, in computing, profiling software...
 the relative importance of different component species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 and feeding relationships.

A general energy flow scenario follows:

The energy is passed on from trophic level
Trophic level

In ecology, trophic dynamics is the system of trophic levels , which describe the position that an organism occupies in a food chain — what an organism eats, and what eats the organism....
 to trophic level and each time most (about 90%) of the energy is lost, with some being lost as heat into the environment (an effect of respiration
Respiration

Respiration may refer to:* Respiration , the transport of oxygen to cells where cellular respiration takes place* Gas diffusion in soil, exchange of gases between plant roots and the atmosphere...
) and some being lost as egesta.






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In ecology
Ecology

Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
, energy flow (calorific flow) refers to the flow of energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
 through a food chain
Food chain

Food chains, also called, food networks and/or trophic social networks, describe the eating relationships between species within an ecosystem....
.

In following energy flow in an ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
, ecologists seek to quantify
Quantify

Quantify may refer to:* Quantitative, attribute that can be measured.* IBM Rational Quantify, in computing, profiling software...
 the relative importance of different component species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 and feeding relationships.

A general energy flow scenario follows:
  • Solar energy is fixed by the photoautotrophs, the so called primary producers, like green plants which fix the energy in forms such as glucose
    Glucose

    Glucose , a monosaccharide also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology....
     and ATP
    Adenosine triphosphate

    This article is about the chemical used by cells as an energy carrier. For other uses, see ATP .Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleotide, and plays an important role in cell biology as a coenzyme that is the "molecule unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer....
     by photosynthesis
    Photosynthesis

    File:Seawifs global biosphere.jpgPhotosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight....
    .
  • The primary consumers consuming these photoautotrophs are herbivores. They absorb most of the stored energy in the plant through digestion
    Digestion

    Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
    , and transform it into the form of energy they need, adenosine triphosphate, through respiration. A part of the energy received by the herbivore is converted to bodily heat (an effect of respiration), which is radiated away and lost from the system. Energy loss also occurs in the expulsion of egesta, which contains undigested energy compounds.
  • Secondary Consumers then consume the primary consumers. Energy that had been used by the primary consumers for growth and storage is thus absorbed into the secondary consumers through the process of digestion. As with primary consumers, secondary consumers convert this energy into a more suitable form (ATP) during respiration. Again some energy is lost from the system, since energy which the primary consumers had used for respiration cannot be utilised by the secondary consumers.
  • Tertiary consumers then consume the secondary consumers, and most of the energy is passed along, while some is again lost in the ways described above and below.
  • A final link in the food chain is decomposer
    Decomposer

    Decomposers are organisms that consume dead organisms, and, in doing so, carry out the natural process of decomposition. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic material to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development....
    s which break down the organic matter of the tertiary consumers (or whichever consumer is at the top of the chain) and release nutrients into the soil. Decop Saprotrophic bacteria and fungi are decomposers, and play a pivotal role in the nitrogen and carbon cycles.


The energy is passed on from trophic level
Trophic level

In ecology, trophic dynamics is the system of trophic levels , which describe the position that an organism occupies in a food chain — what an organism eats, and what eats the organism....
 to trophic level and each time most (about 90%) of the energy is lost, with some being lost as heat into the environment (an effect of respiration
Respiration

Respiration may refer to:* Respiration , the transport of oxygen to cells where cellular respiration takes place* Gas diffusion in soil, exchange of gases between plant roots and the atmosphere...
) and some being lost as egesta. This means the top consumer of a food chain
Food chain

Food chains, also called, food networks and/or trophic social networks, describe the eating relationships between species within an ecosystem....
 receives the least energy, as a lot of the food chain's energy has been lost between trophic levels. This loss of energy at each level limits typical food chains to only 4-6 links.