Herbivores and carnivores are important parts of how energy moves through food chains. Food chains are essential to how ecosystems work. Energy flows in different groups called trophic levels. Each level shows a different set of organisms that do similar jobs in the food chain.

1. Trophic Levels:

   • Producers (T1): These are plants and tiny ocean plants called phytoplankton. They change sunlight into energy through a process called photosynthesis. They only use about 1-2% of the sunlight they capture for growth.
   • Primary Consumers (T2): These are herbivores that eat the producers. They get about 10% of the energy from the producers.
   • Secondary Consumers (T3): These are carnivores that eat the herbivores. Just like before, they also get about 10% of the energy from the primary consumers.
   • Tertiary Consumers (T4): These are the top carnivores that eat the secondary consumers, and they get about 10% of the energy too.

2. Energy Efficiency:

   • Only about 10% of the energy from one level is passed to the next level. This means that as you go higher in the food chain, there is much less energy available. This is called the 10% rule.
   • For instance, if the producers make 1000 energy units (called Joules), the primary consumers get around 100 Joules, the secondary consumers take in about 10 Joules, and the tertiary consumers only get 1 Joule.

3. Impacts on Ecosystem:

   • Herbivores are usually good at turning plant energy into their own energy. They can use more types of plant material.
   • Carnivores help keep the herbivore numbers in check, but they need more energy since they are higher up the food chain. So, ecosystems with more herbivores tend to produce more energy overall.

In short, knowing how herbivores, carnivores, and energy efficiency work together is key to understanding how ecosystems survive and thrive.