Explain two fundamental laws of thermodynamics that govern the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

Explain two fundamental laws of thermodynamics that govern the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

-The 1st law of the thermodynamics states that 'energy can neither be created no destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another i.e. energy changes in form and not in amount, e.g. sunlight is converted into chemical energy that is used by plants to make their own food.

Generally, the flow of energy and cycling of matter through an ecosystem concerns what eats or decomposes what (depicted in food chains and food webs). There is virtually no waste in ecosystems. All organisms, dead or alive, are potential sources of food for other organisms.

-2nd law of the thermodynamics states that energy always changes from a more useful and highly organised form to less useful and disorganized form. There is no system that is 100% efficient in energy transfer (e.g. when cow eats grass some fall off and some are indigestible). The flow of energy through an ecosystem can be represented by a pyramid that shows the total amount of incoming energy for successive trophic levels e.g. when a plant is eaten, the food it contains is transferred to an herbivore. The herbivore uses most of the food energy it takes to move, feed and respire. Therefore relatively little energy is left for the predator that eats it. The process continues so that less and less energy is available at each successive trophic level. (NB the shorter the food chain the less the loss of usable energy

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marto answered the question on March 20, 2019 at 07:15

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