Energy and Nutrient Flows

Energy and nutrient flows are fundamental to an ecosystem functioning properly.Nutrient cycle - the feedback of minerals from decomposed organic material back into plantsEnergy cycle - the flow of energy through the system e.g. food chain/webEnergy Flows: Primary producers at level 1 convert sunlight into energy via photosynthesis Energy is lost through respiration at each stage The amount of biomass at each level also decreases Any change to this cycle can put the ecosystem under threat Nutrient Flows: The circulation of chemical elements from the environment to organism and back to the environment again Nutrients are stored as either soil, litter or biomass This is easily affected as it is an open system and nutrients can be added physically or by human elements