The flow of
through life is not an
cycle. The energy
go round and round getting
used over and over again and never
out. Its passage through the
food chain can better be described as
and
. As energy moves up the food
there is less and less of it
to go around. That's the main reason there
very many big fierce
compared to the herbivores.
Not enough
for them! A brief
explanation goes something like the following:
Most of the
energy that falls on the
earth is not used by plants. It bounces back to space or
the air, oceans, and ground,
and makes weather, among other things.
The
only get a
bit of the solar energy that
hits the
.
And....
The
only get a little
of the energy that hits the
.
And....
The
and decomposers only get a
little bit of the energy that was eaten by the
. Most of the plant energy
that is consumed by a
is used by that herbivore
to keep itself eating, breathing, walking, and staying
warm. Only a little bit is left over for the carnivore
or decomposer that eats the herbivore.
At
the end of the chain there
much of that original solar
energy left. Therefore, we
fresh
everyday and new plants have
to keep growing. Otherwise the whole amazing system
would quickly run out of energy and everything alive
would come to a "dead" stop.
Energy above
(or jumps in bites?) from
sun to primary producers ()
to primary consumers () to
secondary consumers () to
decomposers (, etc.\
At
the end of the chain there
much of that original solar
energy left. Therefore, we
fresh
everyday and new plants have
to keep growing. Otherwise the whole amazing system
would quickly run out of energy and everything alive
would come to a "dead" stop. 
