Flow of Chemical Energy
- Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy into chemical energy
- Light energy is used by plants to power several processes which result in the production of organic molecules, or carbon compounds, including:
- Glucose, which is used in respiration or stored in plant cells in the form of starch
- Lipids
- Amino acids
- Light energy is used by plants to power several processes which result in the production of organic molecules, or carbon compounds, including:
- Chemical energy, stored in carbon compounds in plant tissues, is passed to the primary consumer when the plant is ingested
- The primary consumer digests the plant tissues and absorbs the carbon compounds containing stored chemical energy
- These carbon compounds can either be used to fuel respiration or to build up animal tissue, meaning that the stored chemical energy is transferred to the tissues of the primary consumer
- When the primary consumer is ingested, the carbon compounds in its tissues, along with their stored chemical energy, pass to the secondary consumer, and so on up the food chain
- When an organism dies, the chemical energy stored in carbon compounds in its tissues passes to detritivores and saprotrophs