Is energy alone transferred in a food chain? Is there also a transfer of matter? Let us examine how it occurs. The chemical energy fixed in the plant tissues is utilized by different organisms as the source of their food. It is well known that food gives us the necessary energy requirement for the life activities as well as the building up of body tissues. It is also evident that tissues are transferred through food chain. These are decomposed into abiotic factors later. How do they get back in to the body of the living organisms?
Study the diagramatic Illustration III. Find out how matter flows and how it differs from the flow of energy.
It is now clear that the flow of matter is cyclic and it thus differs from the flow of energy.