Energy flow through Ecosystem

An organism that produces its own food using sunlight or chemical energy, forming the base of the food chain.

They create food supplies and are the foundation of food chains.

Endothermic organisms are warm-blooded and can regulate their body temperature, while ectothermic organisms are cold-blooded and rely on external sources for body heat.

The rate at which all the autotrophs in an ecosystem produce organic matter, minus the rate at which they use some of that organic matter during respiration.

It lowers net primary productivity.

Large, complex molecules essential for life, including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Nucleic acids.

The process by which phosphorus moves through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, essential for DNA, RNA, and ATP.

The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, including photosynthesis and respiration.

An organism that cannot produce its own food and instead consumes other organisms for energy.