BRAINCAKEEnergy Transfer and Food Chain Length
Because only a small fraction of energy passes from one trophic level to the next, food chains are short. They rarely have more than four or five trophic levels.
Worked example: if producers fix 100 000 kJ m−2 year−1 and about 10% is transferred at each step:
producers 100 000 → primary 10 000 → secondary 1000 → tertiary 100 → quaternary 10
Sign in free to see the rest of this lesson, the R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps and the quiz
BrainCake is free. Make an account in seconds and pick up where this page stops.
More in The Efficiency of Ecosystems
- Efficiency of Energy Transfer
- Gross Primary Productivity
- Net Primary Productivity
- The Limitations of Efficiency Calculations
- Nutrient Recycling
- Conditions for Recycling Nutrients
- Microorganisms in the Nitrogen Cycle
- Microorganisms in the Carbon Cycle
All 20 lessons in The Efficiency of Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics