How is energy flow through an ecosystem related to trophic structure (trophic levels)

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Answer 1

The trophic levels are producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, etc. If you arrange these in a pyramid based on biomass, the greatest biomass is at the bottom with the producers. The reason for this is the second law of thermodynamics. The way biomass and energy (remember, E=mc^2) is transferred from one level to another means that there is loss along the way. Energy transfer is not 100% efficient, so each time a rabbit eats some clover, it gets some energy from the clover to build muscle and bone, but much of the energy is lost as heat. Therefore, the rabbit has to eat lots more grass (in mass) than the rabbit actually contains.