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GCSE Food chainsFood chains show the feeding relationships between living things. Pyramids of biomass reveal the mass of living material at each stage in a chain. Part of Biology (Single Science) Ecosystems and habitats
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Energy transferEnergy is transferred along food chains from one trophic level to the next. However, the amount of available energy decreases from one trophic level to the next. Energy transfer A pyramid of biomass A pyramid of biomass A pyramid of biomass
A pyramid of biomass Energy lossIn a food chain only around 10 per cent of the energy is passed on to the next trophic level. The rest of the energy passes out of the food chain in a number of ways:
Less energy is transferred at each level of the food chain so the biomass gets smaller. As a result, there are usually fewer than five trophic levels in food chains. Percentage efficiency of energy transferThe percentage efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels can be calculated using the equation: curriculum-key-fact energy transferred to next level ÷ total energy in × 100 Worked exampleWork out the percentage efficiency of energy transfer between producers and primary consumers in the example. QuestionCalculate the total energy that came into the level of the food chain. 4500 kJ + 500 kJ = 5000 kJ QuestionIdentify how much energy is transferred to the next level. 500 kJ QuestionCalculate the efficiency of this transfer using the equation. energy transferred to next level ÷ total energy in × 100 500 kJ ÷ 5000 kJ × 100 = 10%
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What happens to energy as you move up the trophic levels?Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level are consumed by organisms from the next level. Trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE) measures the amount of energy that is transferred between trophic levels.
Why is only 10% of energy transferred between trophic levels What happens to the remaining 90% of energy?The amount of energy at each trophic level decreases as it moves through an ecosystem. As little as 10 percent of the energy at any trophic level is transferred to the next level; the rest is lost largely through metabolic processes as heat.
How is energy transferred between the trophic levels and in what form?Energy is transferred between trophic levels when one organism eats another and gets the energy-rich molecules from its prey's body. However, these transfers are inefficient, and this inefficiency limits the length of food chains.
How does the transfer of energy through the trophic levels affect ecosystems?A consequence of the inefficient energy transfer between trophic levels is that there tends to be fewer organisms at higher trophic levels in an ecosystem. The number of organisms at different trophic levels can be represented by a numbers pyramid, such as the one shown below.
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How does the percent of energy transferred change as you move up in trophic levels?
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