Energy Flow And Succession

Tree squirrels and chipmunks can live in the same habitat because they have different niches. Energy flows through a community via food chains that start with producers like plants performing photosynthesis. Producers are eaten by herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers within a food web. Only about 10% of energy is transferred at each trophic level, with the rest lost, so producers greatly outnumber consumers in a balanced ecosystem.