0
You eat at the lowest trophic level, which would be grains and grasses. As you progress up the food chain, energy isn't lost but transferred into another form, heat.
Remember the first law of Thermodynamics? The first law of thermodynamics states that Energy is Conserved and that under normal conditions is neither created nor destroyed, but transferred or transformed.
When you eat low on the trophic level (Lowest-highest.....1. grains and grasses ( Primary producers), 2. Herbivores (animals that eat plants, Primary consumers) 3. Omnivores (eat plants and animals, secondary consumers) and 4. Carnivores (eat animals, tertiary or TOP consumers). Humans are carnivores.
Second law of thermodynamics states that the ecosystems are not 100% efficient and with each successive energy transformation as grain is passed to the herbivores, energy is transformed into heat and escapes the herbivores, so when the omnivores eat the herbivores there is less energy stored inside the herbivores and so on all the way to the top of the trophic level, less energy is available to do work because each transfer or transformation leaves less energy behind, even though it is not lost.
The second law of thermodynamics states that we could feed more people if we consumed grain rather than feeding it to livestock, then eating the livestock.
If you would like to eat so that you would be consuming the most amount of energy per meal, you eat primary producers. Eating low on the trophic level is not just a good way to eat where energy is most plentiful in our food but it is also good for nature, the earth and a variety of other reasons.
I wish you the best of luck if you plan to become a vegetarian, it is a very healthy lifestyle, but you do need to be educated so that you are getting the proper amount of nutrients and protein, which are in abundant quantities in grains and grasses ( I don't mean grass as the kind on your lawn either) Look up what types of foods are considered grasses, you'd be surprised.
****Also, Do Not Forget that there IS NO loss of energy as you move higher up the food chain, only a transformation of energy, which means that there is less energy available to do work. Just like the laws of matter, so too is the 1st law of thermodynamics. Both laws state that under normal conditions matter or energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can be transformed or transferred.
These are fundamental rules of science so that is why I am really stressing the point of energy not being lost.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.
Kathy
(Microbiologist, 10 yrs)
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Loss of energy in the food chain limits the amount of what?
Energy that can be transfered to the next level
How energy is lost at each level in a food chain?
Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.
The loss of an organism at the bottom of a food chain negatively impacts all organism in the chain true or false?
True
Why does the the amount of energy decrease in trophic levels?
Every step of energy transformation have loss. Progress through the energy chain, the amount of energy transferred would unavoidably degraded. So as the chain progress it get narrower to a pyramid shape.
The link between the energy that carnivores get from eating to the energy captured by photosynthesis?
The link between the energy that carnivores get from eating to the energy captured by photosynthesis is the food chain.
Loss of energy in the food chain limits the amount of what?
Energy that can be transfered to the next level
What shows the loss of energy as it is transferred through the food chain?
Ask anonymous
Because of the constant loss of energy, there can be a maximum of 7trophic levels in a food chain,TRUEFALSE?
True
How energy is lost at each level in a food chain?
Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.Every living being in the food chain needs some of the energy for its own maintenance.
Where does energy go in a food chain or web?
Heat, Food, Energy are some ways energy are lost at each level of the food chain.
A diagram that shows an ecosystem and loss of energy at each level of the food chain is known as?
This is often shown in a form of a pyramid.
Why are microorganisms important in ocean food chains?
Microorganisms such as algae are photosynthetic and convert energy from the sunlight into usable energy for organisms. Since organisms are inefficient at converting energy when consuming organisms, there needs to be a constant inflow of energy to sustain higher levels of the food chain. The loss of energy also explains why there are lesser numbers of organisms higher up on the food chain.
Because of the constant loss of energy there can be a maximum of 7 trophic levels in a food chain. TRUE or FALSE?
False
Why a food chain with more than 6 organism is not likely to be a successful one?
There is a loss of energy at each trophic level, such that insufficient energy can be gained by animals at the "top" end of longer food chains/webs.
Which section of an energy pyramid is the largest and Why?
A pyramid is bigger at the bottom and small and pointy at the top. so its bigger at the bottom, otherwise it would have been called an energy upside-down pyramid =). But anyway, energy enters a food chain from the sun. some energy and biomass is lost at each stage of a food chain as feaces, movement energy and heat energy (especiall birds and mammals). therefore only a small amount of energy and biomass is incorporated into a consumer's body and transferred to the next feeding level. the loss of energy and biomass at each stage is a representation of why the pyramid gets smaller at the top.
The loss of an organism at the bottom of a food chain negatively impacts all organism in the chain true or false?
True
How can pollution in food chain leads to loss of life?
mhejrunxcir4idpwe=3[szp7yi
