Food Chain energy pyramid

[Scott G]

Hi everyone,

Is it correct to add solar energy to the bottom of an energy pyramid describing a food chain? Most I have looked at on the internet don't, but wikipedia says that you can. Does anyone have a definitive answer?

Thanks very much,

Scott:-)

[ecoli]

sure... that's where plants get their energy from.

[herpguy]

We learned that the sun is at the bottom in school last year, and as ecoli said, its where plants get their energy from.

[weknowthewor]

We know that at the beginning of an aquatic food chain are the primary producers, known as autotrophs. These include single celled phytoplankton, algae and seagrasses and as a whole, constitute the largest percentage of web biomass. Autotrophs convert solar energy into chemical energy and transform simple inorganic molecules to more complex organic molecules. This is accomplished by absorbing energy from the sun and releasing oxygen into the water and atmosphere.

 

Hence, i think solar energy sholud be included in primary producers level.

[Sayonara]

It's not strictly necessary to add it, as the pyramid begins with the producers in the living system. But it won't hurt to add it.

 

(Unless you are dealing with an autotrophic or chemotrophic system, where the sun plays no role, such as the habitat around a deep sea sulphur vent.)