Question

Draw a diagram showing flow of energy from solar input to a food chain having four trophic levels in an ecosystem. List two inference that can be drawn from the energy flow diagram.

Answer 1

Diagram showing flow of energy in an ecosystem

From the energy flow diagram, two inferences can be drawn.

1. Firstly, the flow of energy is unidirectional. The energy that is captured by the autotrophs does not revert back to the solar input and the energy which passes to the herbivores does not come back to autotrophs. As it moves progressively through the various trophic levels it is no longer available at the previous level.
2. Secondly, the energy available at each trophic level gets diminished progressively due to loss of energy at each level.