The cycle of energy in an ecosystem
 photo by Linda Tanner |
The sun shines on a plant, and through the process of photosynthesis, the plant turns water and carbon dioxide into sugars and starches. These sugars and starches store a portion of the sun's energy, making it available to the animal that eats the plant. When that animal digests the plant, it stores a fraction of the plant's energy in its own tissues. If that animal becomes the prey of yet another animal, the energy will be transferred again.
The description above explains a "food chain," which is a simple ecosystem model used to describe the relationship between producers (like plants), primary consumers (like rabbits or cows), and secondary consumers (like foxes or hawks).
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