APES 1.10 Ten Percent Rule

Energy Flow and the 10% Rule

• Ten percent goes from one trophic level to the next
• Ten percent is a general standard, exact percent varies
• Remaining energy is lost as heat during respiration, metabolic processes, and temp. regulation, incomplete digestion, etc.
• Involves some thermodynamics:
  • Conservation of energy, can’t be created/destroyed
  • Total entropy cannot decrease over time, only increase.
  • Meaning more disorder over time