BRAINCAKEEnergy Losses in Producers
Energy enters an ecosystem when producers trap light energy in photosynthesis and convert it into chemical energy in organic molecules such as glucose. Yet only a small percentage, typically around 1 to 3%, of the light energy falling on a plant is converted in this way. The rest is lost at the very first step of the food chain.
Reasons why most light energy is not captured:
- Some light misses the leaves altogether and hits the ground or other surfaces.
- Some light is reflected from the leaf surface.
- Some light passes straight through the leaf without hitting a chloroplast; it is transmitted.
- Chlorophyll absorbs mainly red and blue light. Much of the green light is reflected, and other wavelengths cannot be used.
Sign in free to see the rest of this lesson, the R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps and the quiz
BrainCake is free. Make an account in seconds and pick up where this page stops.
More in The Efficiency of Ecosystems
- Ecological Pyramids
- Pyramid of Numbers
- Pyramid of Biomass
- Inverted Pyramids of Numbers
- Energy Losses between Consumers
- Efficiency of Energy Transfer
- Gross Primary Productivity
- Net Primary Productivity
All 20 lessons in The Efficiency of Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics