AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -3.1 The Sun is the major source of energy for organisms and the ecosystems of which they are a part. Producers such as plants, algae, and cyanobacteria use the energy from sunlight to make organic matter from carbon dioxide and water. This establishes the beginning of energy flow through almost all food webs.

Detailed explanation-2: -Most ecosystems get their energy from the Sun. Only producers can use sunlight to make usable energy. Producers convert the sunlight into chemical energy or food.

Detailed explanation-3: -An ecosystem includes all the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere).

Detailed explanation-4: -Over the last 30 years, researchers have discovered deep-sea ecosystems that live independent from the sun’s energy. These communities survive by utilising chemical rather than solar energy.

Detailed explanation-5: -Energy enters an ecosystem when producers carry out photosynthesis, capturing energy from the sun and storing it as chemical potential energy.