4. Food Chains
The energy flow from one trophic level
to the other is know as a food chain
Producers are at the first ENERGY LEVEL
Primary Consumers are the SECOND
ENERGY LEVEL
Secondary consumers are at the THIRD
ENERGY LEVEL
13. from grass to sheep, loss is about
90%!
10% Original
Energy! 1% Original
Energy!
100% Energy
Available
HEAT
90%
HEAT
90%
14. Energy lost from one trophic level
(energy level) to the next level can be
represented by a pyramid
PRODUCERS
1° CONSUMERS
2° CONSUMERS
3°
CONSUMERS
4⁰°
CONSUMERS
15. ♦Each level above only gets
10% of the energy from below
− Ex: 10,000 J of producers (plants) only give 10% of
energy to primary consumers
> 1,000 J to primary consumers (snails,
minnows, dragonflies)
> 100 J to secondary consumers (small fish)
> 10 J to tertiary consumers (big fish)
> 1 J to quaternary consumers (fish hawk)
18. Usually no more than 4 trophic
levels since 6th level would have
very little energy to keep it alive
19. Ecological Pyramid
• Which level has the most energy?
• Which level has the most organisms?
• Which level has the least organisms?
• Which level has the least energy?
