Simulation · Biology · Class 12
From sunlight to herbivores
From the lesson Energy flow in Ecosystem. Change the values and watch what happens.
From sunlight to herbivoresBiology · Class 12
The idea behind it
NCERT §12.4
- Apart from deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems, every ecosystem on Earth runs on energy from the sun.
- Less than 50 per cent of the incident solar radiation is photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).
- Of this PAR, plants trap just 2-10 per cent, yet that small share keeps the whole living world going.
- All organisms depend on producers for food, directly or indirectly, so energy flows one way: from the sun to producers and then to consumers.
- Ecosystems obey the second law of thermodynamics. They need a constant energy supply to build the molecules they need and to counter the universal trend towards disorder.
- Producers in terrestrial ecosystems are mainly herbaceous and woody plants; in aquatic ecosystems they are phytoplankton, algae and higher plants.
- Energy trapped in an organism does not stay there for ever. It passes to a consumer, or the organism dies, and death starts the detritus food chain.