Energy flow models help us understand how ecosystems work. They show how energy moves through food chains and food webs.
Let's break it down:
Producers, like plants, take in sunlight and turn about 1% of that energy into food through a process called photosynthesis.
Primary consumers, which are animals that eat plants (called herbivores), use around 10% of the energy that producers create.
Secondary consumers, or carnivores (animals that eat other animals), only get about 1% of the energy from the primary consumers.
This means that as you go higher up the food chain, there are fewer animals. That's because a lot of energy gets lost at each step!
Energy flow models help us understand how ecosystems work. They show how energy moves through food chains and food webs.
Let's break it down:
Producers, like plants, take in sunlight and turn about 1% of that energy into food through a process called photosynthesis.
Primary consumers, which are animals that eat plants (called herbivores), use around 10% of the energy that producers create.
Secondary consumers, or carnivores (animals that eat other animals), only get about 1% of the energy from the primary consumers.
This means that as you go higher up the food chain, there are fewer animals. That's because a lot of energy gets lost at each step!