Energy Flow & Nutrient Cycling — NEET Biology
📚 Practice ConceptEnergy flow is unidirectional. First, plants capture solar energy and then, food is transferred from the producers to decomposers. Organisms of different trophic levels in nature are connected to each other for food or energy relationship forming a food chain. The storage and movement of nutrient elements through the various components of the ecosystem is called nutrient cycling; nutrients are repeatedly used through this process. Nutrient cycling is of two types—gaseous and sedimentary. Atmosphere or hydrosphere is the reservoir for the gaseous type of cycle (carbon), whereas Earth's crust is the reservoir for sedimentary type (phosphorus). Products of ecosystem processes are named as ecosystem services, e.g., purification of air and water by forests.
Assertion (A): Nutrient cycles are classified into gaseous and sedimentary types based on their reservoirs. Reason (R): The carbon cycle is sedimentary with Earth’s crust as reservoir, while the phosphorus cycle is gaseous with atmosphere as reservoir.
View solution & NCERT explanation
Correct answer: C — If assertion is true but reason is false.
NCERT confirms nutrient cycles are classified by reservoir type (Assertion true). However, NCERT states “Atmosphere or hydrosphere is the reservoir for the gaseous type of cycle (carbon), whereas Earth’s crust is the reservoir for sedimentary type (phosphorus).” The Reason swaps the cycle types - carbon is gaseous (atmosphere reservoir), phosphorus is sedimentary (crust reservoir).
What does NCERT say about Energy flow unidirectional First?
Has this concept appeared in NEET?
Which chapter is this from?
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 176 of the 180 ReNEET 2026 (June 21) questions were already in the MedicNEET question bank before the exam.
176/180MedicNEET's Biology question bank is built from the same NCERT lines NTA picks repeatedly. Not random MCQs — questions crafted exactly like NTA crafts them.