How do the energy flows and flow of matter respond to external changes difference between the flow of matter and the flow of energy in food webs?
Energy flows through an ecosystem in a one-way stream, from primary producers to various consumers. A food chain is a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten. In a food chain, energy flows from the organism being eaten to the organism doing the eating. So, it flows from the producers to the consumers and finally to the decomposers. The consumers eat the producers, and the decomposers eat the dead and dying consumers. So, the energy that enters an ecosystem as sunlight eventually flows out of the ecosystem in the form of heat. In contrast, the matter in an ecosystem is continuously recycled as atoms are combined and recombined in different ways. Energy flow is one-way, from the sun to decomposers. Nutrient cycling is circular, with matter returning to the environment to be reused. Loss: Energy is lost along the food chain, decreasing at each level. Primary producers use energy from the sun to produce their own food in the form of glucose, and then primary producers are eaten by primary consumers who are in turn eaten by secondary consumers, and so on, so that energy flows from one trophic level, or level of the food chain, to the next. The constant exchange of matter and energy between Earth's spheres happens through chemical reactions, radioactive decay, the radiation of energy, and the growth and decay of organisms. In natural systems, both energy and matter are conserved within a system. This means that energy and matter can change forms but cannot be created or destroyed. Energy and matter are often cycled within a system, and different forms of matter and energy are able to interact. The flow of matter is in a cyclic manner i.e. it is recycled while the energy flow in an ecosystem occurs in one direction and not recycled. Decomposers release nutrients by the breakdown of dead organisms. On eating plants energy gets transferred to primary consumers. Energy usually flows through a linear path or one-way stream. Unlike energy, matter is recycled using biogeochemical cycles, which is driven by the flow of energy that moves around the biosphere.