AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The fourth trophic level where animals eat secondary consumers or below. Only 10% of the energy is passed on from one trophic level to the next. 90% is lost as heat due to cellular respiration or waste. Matter is passed up the ecological pyramid in a similar way to energy but recycled by decomposers and detritivores.

Detailed explanation-2: -The reason for this is that 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: it is released as heat energy during respiration. it is used for life processes (eg movement)

Detailed explanation-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -At each step up the food chain, only 10 percent of the energy is passed on to the next level, while approximately 90 percent of the energy is lost as heat.

Detailed explanation-5: -However, only about 10 percent of the total energy stored in organisms at one trophic level is actually transferred to organisms at the next trophic level. The rest of the energy is used for metabolic processes or lost to the environment as heat.