Energy Pyramid

An energy pyramid is a display of how the amount of energy transferred from one organism to the next through the process of consumption. The different levels of the pyramid represent what each organisms eat and how organisms transfer energy from each other. When each organism receives energy it uses 90% of the energy for purposes like growth, cellular activity, reproduction, body movement, and photosynthesis (only if the organism is a producer and is autotrophic) before the next organism consumes it. That organism will receive the remaining 10%. Producers receive the largest amount of energy since they produce it straight from sunlight. The primary consumers who feed on the producers obtain 10% of the producers’ energy, the secondary consumers get 10% of the primary consumers’ energy and so on.

In the shown energy pyramid the grass is the producer. It takes in the most energy which comes directly from the sunlight and it produces the most energy. The Grasshopper above is the Primary consumer or on the first trophic level. Even though it doesn't take in as much energy as the grass it takes 10% of the Producer's energy. The mouse being the secondary consumer and on the second trophic level consumes the grasshopper and receives 10% of the grasshoppers energy. Lastly the owl being the tertiary consumer and on the third trophic level only receives 10% of the mouse's energy, even though the owl is on the highest trophic level due to the energy being passed down through multiple organisms it receives the lowest amount of energy.