Energy is needed to drive an ecosystem

[Ahmad786]

Energy is needed to "drive" an ecosystem

Energy is needed to "drive" an ecosystem. What is the fundamental source of that energy?
A. Chemical Bonds
B. Heat
C. Organic Fuel
D. Sunlight

I am not sure about this question but I think the answer is D. Sunlight is this correct? And if so why ?

 

[Tom Creswell]

This question requires a context. Or else if general, it requires a general knowledge of science. My thougt is solar energy is fundamental- it heats plants and animals, enables photosynthesis. When animals eat the plants, their enzymes break apart the chemical bonds obtaining heat or energy storage for themselves. Organic fuel is also general- if they mean fossil fuel, it is thought that living things die, are buried and treated with high temperature and pressure, becoming hydrocarbons. But all these trace back to solar heat.

 

[DaveC426913]

Well, since there are some ecosystems that don't require sunlight, such as those around hydro-thermal vents, it seems to me that the common element in all ecosystems is chemical bonds.