On average what proportion of energy in a ecosystem is transferred from one trophic level to the next, and where does rest energy of the energy go?

1 Answer
Mar 17, 2016

About 10-20% of energy is transferred to each trophic level. The rest of the energy may just not get absorbed- such as plants only take in approximately 10% of energy from sunlight. In animals a lot of energy is lost from not eating the animal or excretion. Energy can also be lost from respiration or as heat loss.