A food chain models the movement of energy in an ecosystem (a form of
environmental system where things depend on each other).
This illustrates the movement of energy in a typical food chain. In this diagram, we begin the food chain with 100,000 units of light energy from the sun.
Note, the amount of energy available at each
successive level of this system becomes progressively less. Only 10
units of energy are available at the last level ( carnivores ) of the
food chain.
The sun is the original source of energy, in the form of light, for
the food chain.
Plants capture approximately 1% of the available light energy from the sun for biomass production by way of photosynthesis.
Herbivores consume approximately 10% of the plant biomass produced in a typical food chain.
Carnivores capture and consume about 10% of the energy stored by the herbivores.
