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In Ecosystems. Organisms tend to get phosphorus from their local ecosystem. An  organism can also get nitrogen from its local ecosystem. Nitrogen  is added to the organism's local ecosyste â¦ m by bacteria from the  air.
Producers funnel into the ecosystem the energy needed for its biological processes. The carbohydrates and other organic chemicals formed by the producers are consumed and utilized by the heterotrophs, or consumers. First, herbivores -- the primary consumers -- eat the plants. Predators -- the secondary, tertiary consumers -- eat the herbivores. But at each step, much energy is lost. Less than 10 percent of the energy stored in plants is converted to herbivore mass. The loss from herbivore to predator is similar. Thus, energy needs to be added to the ecosystem continuously. This is the producers' role. Shaping the Ecosystem The efficiency of the producers in adding energy to the ecosystem determines how robust that ecosystem will be.