We’ve mentioned eating at a “lower trophic level” on our blog-- and now we bring you this informational post to briefly explain what that means!
At the lowest trophic level, that of producers, the amount of energy that a consumer can obtain from that organism is at its fullest capacity. A consumer that eats a producer is getting the most energy they can from the least resources possible-- this can apply to vegetarians and/or vegans choosing to eat plants etc. to get their energy from producers.
That brings us to the discussion of consumers higher up on the trophic pyramid-- what happens when a human eats a steak, or other meat? Well we get less direct energy from that meat, as that consumer had to consume something else to get their energy. The amount of energy that we receive from the consumers that we eat is diluted because we’re eating organisms further from a source of initial energy.
For each ascending level on the trophic pyramid (above producers), 10% of the energy from what is consumed is obtained. We can all try to use less resources by eating at a lower trophic level, that way we can get the same amount of energy from a more direct source rather than relying on several different sources of already diluted energy to nourish us.
