Agriculture at a crossroads
Agriculture is at a crossroads. For almost thirty years, since the early 1980s, neither the private sector nor governments were interested in investing in agriculture. This is now changing. Over the last few years, agri-food companies have seen an increase in direct investment as a means to lower costs and ensure the long-term viability of [...]
The Transformation of Energy
The transformations of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun. Energy from the sun is captured by the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen (derived from the splitting of water molecules) to produce carbohydrates (CHO). Energy is stored in the high energy bonds of adenosine [...]
Energy and the Food Web
Just like any other sort of system, an ecosystem requires energy to operate. Energy for an ecosystem comes from the sun in the form of photons. When a photon of energy from the sun hits a green plant or an algae, it triggers a complicated chemical reaction in the chlorophyll pigments: photosynthesis. This is the [...]
Food Ecology Lessons
It doesn’t matter where you live in the world and what your culture is; adults need to eat about two thousand calories a day. Due to famines in some parts of the world, some people may be forced to eat less but this isn’t sustainable. The amount people need to eat isn’t influenced by national [...]