1st GOOGLE MEET QUESTION

What do you think is the reason why energy decreases from one trophic level up to the
next?
Answer: Simply because the energy is being consumed by numerous consumers
starting from the 2nd trophic level which are the primary consumers. Then these
energies being divided are being used by these organisms in a way of doing different
activities and through respiration or releasing of body heat in which it consumes energy.
In addition, some of the energy from these organisms are being released in the form of
excreted wastes such as feces and urine. Thus, when they get eaten by another specie,
the energy available to be transferred is much smaller than of that the host specie being
eaten.

To show the flow of energy through ecosystems, food chains are sometimes drawn
as energy pyramids. Each step of the pyramid represents a different trophic level,
starting with primary producers at the bottom. The width of each step represents the
rate of energy flow through each trophic level. The steps get smaller further up the
pyramid because some of that energy is changed to a form that cannot be consumed
by organism at the next higher step in the food chain. This happens at every step of the
pyramid.
Not all of the energy generated or consumed in one trophic level will be available to the
organisms in the next higher trophic level. At each level, some of the biomass
consumed is excreted as waste, some energy is changed to heat (and therefore
unavailable for consumption) during respiration, and some plants and animals die
without being eaten (meaning their biomass is not passed on to the next consumer).
The waste and dead matter are broken down by decomposers and the nutrients are
recycled into the soil to be taken up again by plants, but most of the energy is changed
to heat during this process. On average, only about 10 percent of energy stored as
biomass in a trophic level is passed from one level to the next. This is known as “the 10
percent rule” and it limits the number of trophic levels an ecosystem can support.
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/energy-transfer-ecosystems/

When energy enters a trophic level, some of it is stored as biomass, as part of

organisms' bodies. This is the energy that's available to the next trophic level since only
energy storied as biomass can get eaten. As a rule of thumb, only about 10% of the
energy that's stored as biomass in one trophic level—per unit time—ends up stored as
biomass in the next trophic level—per the same unit time. This 10% rule of energy
transfer is a good thing to commit to memory.
Image Source: https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-
images/99f0d5b55fdb423d245aaa1b2cc86b46ec8891fb.png

Why does so much energy exit the food web between one trophic level and the next?
Here are a few of the main reasons for inefficient energy transfer^{1,2}1,2start
superscript, 1, comma, 2, end superscript:

 In each trophic level, a significant amount of energy is dissipated as heat as

organisms carry out cellular respiration and go about their daily lives.

 Some of the organic molecules an organism eats cannot be digested and leave
the body as feces, poop, rather than being used.

 Not all of the individual organisms in a trophic level will get eaten by organisms in
the next level up. Some instead die without being eaten.

The feces and uneaten, dead organisms become food for decomposers, who
metabolize them and convert their energy to heat through cellular respiration. So, none
of the energy actually disappears—it all winds up as heat in the end.

Source: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/ecology-ap/energy-flow-
through-ecosystems/a/food-chains-food-webs