Q6 of 67 Page 103

Flow of energy through various trophic levels in an ecosystem is unidirectional and non-cyclic. Explain.

The flow of energy through the various trophic levels in an ecosystem starts with the producers which receive energy from the sun. The producers pass the energy to the next higher trophic level. Only 10% of the energy is passed and the rest is used by the organism itself for carrying out various metabolic processes such as respiration, osmoregulation, thermoregulation, etc. This energy cannot be passed back to the previous trophic level. Thus, it is only unidirectional and non-cyclic.


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