Question

what percentage of organic matter is available in a trophic level above the producers? What happens to the remaining energy ?

Answer 1

Energy is passed up the food chain from one trophic level to the next. However, only about 10 percent of the total energy stored in organisms at one trophic level is actually transferred to organisms at the next trophic level. The rest of the energy is used for metabolic processes or lost to the environment as heat.