Marine Biology

Pyramid of Energy

At each tropic level in the food chain, energy that was originally stored by the autotrophic plants is dissipated along the food chain. When the links or levels in the food chain are more, the dissipated or unusable energy will also be more. There is generally a 90 percent loss at each level of the food chain, creating a pyramid-shaped diagram that is wider at the bottom and narrow at the top. Example: In a pond, maximum energy is stored by the phytoplankton. Then, the energy decreases when it is transferred to the subsequent consumer levels.