ENERGY

TRANSFER
IN TROPHIC
LEVELS
-What does Mufasa mean when he says
that we are all connected in a circle of
life?
 “Lion King”
 https://youtu.be/bW7PlTaawfQ
All organisms require energy

Growth
Maintenance
Reproduction
Locomotion
 The Laws of Thermodynamics

FIRST LAW of THERMODYNAMICS

Energy can be converted from one form to

another, but cannot be created or
destroyed.
SECOND LAW of THERMODYNAMICS

Transformations of energy always result in

some loss or dissipation of energy
or
In energy exchanges in a closed system,
the potential energy of the final state will
be less than that of the initial state
 or
Entropy tends to increase (entropy =
amount of unavailable energy in a
system)
 Energy
• Non-cyclic, unidirectional flow
• Losses at each transfer from one
trophic level to another
- Losses as heat from respiration
- Inefficiencies in processing
• Total energy declines from one transfer
to another
- Limits number of trophic levels
Food Chains

• Artificial devices to
illustrate energy flow
from one trophic level
to another

• Trophic Levels:
groups of organisms
that obtain their
energy in a similar
manner
 Food Chains
• Total number of levels in a food chain
depends upon locality and number of
species

• Highest trophic levels occupied by adult

animals with no predators of their own

• Secondary Production: total amount of

biomass produced in all higher trophic
levels
Energy Flow
 Energy Flow through an Ecosystem
sun Food Chain

Primary
Primary
Producer Secondary Tertiary
Consumer
Consumer Consumer

phytoplankton zooplankton larval fish

fish
heat
heat heat

water

Nutrients
Fungi & bacteria
Decomposer
 Transfer Efficiencies
• Efficiency of energy transfer called
transfer efficiency

• Units are energy or biomass

Et = Pt Pt = annual production at
Pt-1 level t

Pt-1 = annual production

at t-1
 Transfer Efficiency Example
• Net primary production = 150 g C/m2/yr
• Herbivorous copepod production = 25 g C/m2/yr

Et = Pt = Pcopepods = 25 = 0.17
Pt-1 P 150
phytoplankton

• Typical transfer efficiency ranges

*Level 1-2 ~20%
*Levels 2-3, …: ~10%
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Tertiary 10 J
consumers

Secondary 100 J
consumers

Primary
consumers 1000 J

Primary 10,000 J Limu

producers

1,000,000 J of sunlight
 Algae
eaten by
Uhu

Cellular
Feces
Respiration

Growth
 Food Webs
• Food chains don’t exist in real
ecosystems

• Almost all organisms are eaten by

more than one predator

• Food webs reflect these multiple

and shifting interactions
Antarctic Food Web
Food Webs…
Competitive relationships in food webs can reduce
productivity at top levels

Phytoplankton Phytoplankton
(100 units) (100 units)

Herbivorous Herbivorous
Zooplankton Zooplankton
(20 units) (20 units)

Carnivorous Carnivorous Carnivorous

Zooplankton A Zooplankton A Zooplankton B
(2 units) (1 units) (1 units)

Fish (0.2 units) Fish (0.1 units)

 The dynamics of energy flow through
ecosystems have important implications for
the human population.
Eating meat
Is a relatively inefficient way of tapping
photosynthetic production
If humans all fed more efficiently,
eating only plant material
Trophic level

Secondary
consumers

Primary
consumers

Primary
producers

Figure 54.14
Biological Magnification —
Increasing concentration of
poisons in organisms in higher
trophic levels in a food chain or
web.

Many
toxins in
the
Many person
toxins in
the water
 Biological
Magnification-
accumulation of
increasing amounts
of toxin within tissues
of organisms.