Complementary models for ecosystems. The American Naturalist. Energy flow was the dominant paradigm in ecosystem science from the 1930 s through the 1960 s.
All organisms require a specific supply of mineral nutrients for proper growth.
These elements are passed along the food chain to other organisms when eaten, and they are ultimately returned to the environment when they die, possibly to be taken up again by plants. Energy and material flows are similar in that both are removed by plants and are subsequently distributed through food webs. Materials, such as water, mineral elements, and gaseous compounds may be recycled many times within an ecosystem. However, material flows may be open is elements are lost from the ecosystem. At the scale of the entire planet Earth, however, energy is an open cycle and matter is a closed cycle.