On average, only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next level. Most of the energy is lost as heat, used up in digestion, or expended in other metabolic activities.
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On average, only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next level. Most of the energy is lost as heat, used up in digestion, or expended in other metabolic activities.
On average, about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next in a food chain. This phenomenon, known as ecological or trophic efficiency, reflects the inefficiencies in energy conversion during processes like digestion, respiration, and metabolic activities. The remaining 90% is typically lost as heat or used for the organism’s life processes. Consequently, each successive trophic level receives a fraction of the energy from the previous one, leading to a pyramid-shaped distribution of energy. This limited energy transfer plays a crucial role in determining the number of trophic levels an ecosystem can support and influences the overall structure and dynamics of ecological communities.