Approximately what proportion of energy is passed from one trophic level to the next in a food chain?

Explanation

1. 01

   Most of the energy at any level is spent on the organism's own respiration and movement, or lost as heat.

2. 02

   Only about a tenth is stored as body tissue and so becomes available to whatever eats it. This is usually called the ten per cent law.

3. 03

   Because the loss compounds at every step, food chains rarely run beyond four or five levels.