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Energy Flow through an Ecosystem

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ENERGY FLOW THROUGH AN ECOSTSTEM

Energy Flow through an Ecosystem

When you stop to think about the earth we live on, you begin to realize how much of it we take for granted. The planet earth is teaming with millions of living organisms and countless mountain tops. This way of thinking could also lead you to ask the questions, “Where did our major source of energy come from?” To answer the questions, most living things depend on the sun as their ultimate energy source. Let me elaborate on that point more, what we have going on, on earth is more or less a system. A system is defined as a network of independent components and processes, with materials and energy flowing from one component of the system to another (McGraw-Hill, 2013). …show more content…

The hydrogen atom in the water molecule can form bonds with other molecules (Craig). Add That along with the ability to dissolve in other substances; water has the ability to transport minerals and waste products in plants and animals. All these different things give water the ability to hold oxygen for animal life and Carbon dioxide for plants. Now to take a step back and discuss in more detail about the other beings that are a part of the flow of energy in an ecosystem. Let’s begin with the primary producer. Primary producers create carbohydrates along with other compounds using just sunlight, air, and water (McGraw-Hill, 2013). Consumers, however, are anything in an ecosystem that eats something else in order to survive. An example of this would be a wolf eating a deer, and a deer eating grass. The final factor in an ecosystem would be the decomposers. The decomposers slowly tear the previous living organisms into the soil in the ground thus continuing the flow of energy. It begins with the grass growing through photosynthesis. The process then moves onward to the deer consuming the grass. Energy is not lost in this process however. The deer is then consumed by a wolf which absorbs all of the previous organism’s energy. When the wolf expires, it is returned into the ground taking all the energy with it, but changing it to the

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