ecological efficiency

Ecological efficiency refers to how effectively energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem. It measures how much energy from one level of the food chain (like plants) is transferred to the next (such as herbivores), and so on up the chain. Typically, only about 10-20% of the energy is passed on between levels; the rest is lost as heat or used up in life processes. This concept helps us understand the productivity of ecosystems and why there are fewer top predators than plants or herbivores. It highlights the energy limits that shape the structure and size of ecosystems.