Question

Why is it that oniy part of the energy stored in one trophic level is passed on to the next level?

Answer 1

Most of the energy is used up in metabolic processes in the lower tropic level

Explanation:

The second law of thermodynamics ( entropy ) states that everything naturally goes from a higher level of energy to a lower level of energy and from a higher order of complexity to a lower level of complexity. Organisms use up energy in metabolic reactions in order to overcome and reverse entropy. Roughly 90% of the energy that an organism absorbs is used in the metabolic processes needed to maintain life.

The metabolic process use up all but roughly 10% of the energy stored in the lower tropic level. Which means that there is only a small port of the energy left to be passed on to the next tropic level.