Transfer of Energy in Trophic Levels

All organism need energy to sustain life. Every activity that organisms do in ecosystem requires
energy. The flow of energy is the most important factor that controls what kinds of organisms
live in an ecosystem.
Energy transfer

Trophic levels:

Producer- Makes its own food through photosynthesis.

 Example: grasses, ferns, trees, algae
Consumers- organisms that feed on other organisms to survive.
It can be:
1. Herbivore- species that eat plants are primary consumers.
-Energy comes from producers.
 Example: cow, sheep, deer, grasshoppers
2. Carnivore - animals that eat other animals.
- Get energy from other consumers.
 Example: lions, hawks, spiders, sharks, whales
3. Omnivore- eat both plants and animals
-get energy from both producers and consumers
 Example: bears, pigs, gorillas, rats, cockroaches, humans
Decomposer- breaks down dead organisms in an ecosystem and returns nutrients to soil, water,
and air.
 Examples: fungi and bacteria

The species that eat the primary consumers are secondary consumers while the tertiary
consumers are the animals that eat the secondary consumers.
Food chain- a sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism
eats another.

 Producers
are at the first
ENERGY
LEVEL
 Primary
Consumers
are the
SECOND
ENERGY
LEVEL
 Secondary consumers are at the THIRD ENERGY LEVEL

Food Web- Show many feeding relationships that are possible in an ecosystem.
-network of food chains by which nutrients and energy are passed on from one species of
living organisms to another species.

 Energy
available in
food is measured in kilocalories (kcal).
  Sun is the primary source of energy for all living things
 Some of this energy is used by the producers themselves, some is released in the
environment in the form of heat. And so, the remaining energy will be passed to other
organisms.

10% Rule
 90% of the energy at each trophic level is used to carry out functions of living.
 Only 10% is available to the next trophic level.

90% of the energy gained by one trophic level was used up by the organisms and it will be
released in the environment in the form of heat.

Example:
The amount of energy captured by our producer here is equal to 10,000 kcal. The energy that
is available for the primary consumer is only 10%. Now, how can we compute for energy
available for the next trophic level?

Simply divide the Amount of energy by 10. For instance, grass has 10,000 kcal of energy
from photosynthesis. To compute for the energy available for the grasshopper, simply divide
10,000 kcal by 10. Therefore, 1,000 kcal is the 10% energy the producer gives to the primary
consumer.
 Biomass- total mass of organisms in a food chian or food web.