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Food Chain Energy Transfer Calculator

Work out food chain energy transfer instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Food Chain Energy Transfer Calculator

Compounds the trophic transfer efficiency across levels, the reason food chains rarely exceed four or five links.

Formula

Trophic transfer

Energy at level n = producer energy x efficiency^n; the classic ten percent rule gives 0.1% after three transfers

Worked example

With the default values below, Food Chain Energy Transfer Calculator returns Energy reaching the top level of 10.0000. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Energy at the producer levelaccepts 1–1,000,000,000,000 kJ
10,000 kJ
Trophic levels above the producersaccepts 1–6
3
Transfer efficiency per levelaccepts 1–40
10

Results

Energy reaching the top level
10.0000 kJ
Share of producer energy reaching the top
0.100000%
Energy lost to respiration and waste
9,990.00 kJ
Producer energy needed per unit at the top
1,000.0

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Trophic transfer
  3. 3Energy reaching the top level= 10.0000 kJ
  4. 4Share of producer energy reaching the top= 0.100000
  5. 5Energy lost to respiration and waste= 9,990.00 kJ
  6. 6Producer energy needed per unit at the top= 1,000.0

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 6 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is efficiency only about ten percent?

Most assimilated energy is lost as respiratory heat, with more lost as unconsumed or undigested material.

Why are food chains short?

Available energy falls by an order of magnitude per level, so higher levels cannot support viable populations.

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