What is the energy loss in the form of heat during energy transfer from one trophic level to another trophic level?
Dear Naresh,
Conventually the energy transfer to the next trophic level assigned to 10%. The energy loss (90%) combined of heat and detritus. 'There is no generally agreed term for this (detritus) form of energy loss' [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B0122268652002741?via%3Dihub].
Best regards,
Igor
Yes, the energy level is lost on passing on through every trophic level in the ecosystem and the energy that is transferred from one trophic level to the other is around 10% and the remaining amount of energy is lost in the metabolic process of the food processing in the form of heat. On average, only about 10% of the energy stored as biomass in one trophic level e.g., primary producers gets stored as biomass in the next trophic level e.g., primary consumers. Put another way, net productivity usually drops by a factor of ten from one trophic level to the next. 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. Energy transfer between trophic levels typically follows what is referred to as the ten percent rule. From each trophic level to the next, 90% of the starting energy is unavailable to the next trophic level because that energy is used for processes such as movement, growth, respiration, and reproduction. There is only 10% flow of energy from one trophic level to the next higher level. The loss of energy at each step is so great that very little usable remains after four or five trophic levels. Hence only 4 to 5 trophic levels are present in each food chain. The Sun is the major source of energy for organisms and the ecosystems of which they are a part. Producers such as plants, algae, and cyanobacteria use the energy from sunlight to make organic matter from carbon dioxide and water. This establishes the beginning of energy flow through almost all food webs.
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