Energy and Nutrients in Ecosystems

Energy and nutrients are the same thing. Plants capture energy from the Sun and store it in chemicals, via the process of photosynthesisMeaning how plants extract energy by absorbing water and using radiation from the Sun to combine it with carbon dioxide to create sugars. More. The excess greenery and waste that plants create, contain chemicals that animals can eat, in order to build their own bodies and reproduce. When a chemical is used this way, we call it a nutrientA substance that contains the raw materials for life. At a chemical level, these are contained inside compounds that are absorbed into the body and essential energy-containing molecules are extracted, so that energy can be transformed into other chemical processes that use the energy for living. More. As we go up the food chainA single thread in a food web illustrating the chain of animals that eat each other. At the base of the food chain are small high-energy (fast metabolism) animals and at the other end large low metabolism animals. An example would be whales eating krill that eat plankton that eat algae. Or lions that eat gazelles that eat grass. More, animals are also eaten for their nutrients. Nutrient is another way of saying, a chemical compound that contains energy that we can eat and extract for our survival. Energy and nutrients in ecosystemsHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Ecosystems are fuelled by the energy created by plants (primary producers) that convert the Sun's heat energy More are essential for animal life to exist.