With ample rainfall and sunlight, the tropical rainforest ranks the highest in terms of organic matter production. Note that environments like the tropical rainforest exhibit huge amounts of net productivity as both light and moisture are readily available for plant growth. The biotic elements that comprise an ecosystem fall into one of several trophic levels . The trophic level of an organism is its position in the energy flow pyramid of an ecosystem. At the base of the pyramid lies the primary producers .
Primary producers are principally green plants and certain bacteria.
They convert solar energy into organic energy. Above the primary producers lie consumers who ingest live plants or the prey of others. Decomposers , such as, bacteria, molds, and fungi, make use of energy stored in already dead plant and animal tissues. A food chain is a sequence of consumption and represents energy transfer through the environment. Two laws of physics are important in the study of energy flow through ecosystems.