Most primary producers are plants that generate simple, high-energy carbohydrates through the process of photosynthesis

Question

This biochemical event essentially captures sunlight and uses the energy to fuel pathways that lead to the production of useful products. How are plants able to capture sunlight to initiate this process?

Answer 1

Using sunlight to extract energy or to see relies on the presence of light-capturing pigments. In the case of photosynthesis, plants have several different types of pigments that can harness light of different wavelengths. The main photosynthetic pigment is chlorophyll, which actually gives most plants their characteristic green color. Chlorophyll captures sunlight and then uses the energy to power chemical reactions in the plant.