Energy Cycling

Energy flows through the Everglades ecosystem throughtout its food web. The main basis of energy is from the sun, which then gives 100% of its energy to the producers. Energy that is transferred from organism to organism is measured in unites called Kcal. The producers start with 10,000 Kcal and then the Quaternary consumers end up with only 0.01% of that, which is only 100 Kcal. As you can see, the energy is lost as it transfered from each trophic level, since the producers start with 10,000 Kcal and the Quaternary consumers only end up with 100. This is because most of the transfered energy is lost through heat. The rule of 10 states that as energy travels through each trophic level, only 10% of that energy can be consumed, which tells us that the other 90% is lost. And the decomposers only recieve 0.1% of that energy from consuming dead animal and plant matter. This cycle keeps on repeating every day with the sun, all of the trophic levels, and the decomposers.