1. Energy is not created in the ecosystem:
Energy is only converted from one form to another. For example, light energy coming from the sun is converted into chemical energy of food like carbohydrates by the process of photosynthesis. Thus, photosynthesis converts light energy into chemical energy.
2. There is a continuous transfer of energy from one trophic level of organisms to the next trophic level in a food chain:
For example, producers like plants transfer energy to the herbivorous animals like deer, and the herbivorous animals like deer transfer energy to carnivorous animals like lion, so that there is a continuous transfer of energy in the food chain: Plants -> Deer -> Lion. This transfer of energy takes place in the form of chemical energy of food.
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3.At each trophic level of organisms, some of the energy is utilized by the organisms for their metabolic activities like respiration, and for growth.
4.A part of the energy at each trophic level (like producers, herbivores and carnivores) is utilized for the functioning of decomposers.
5. There is a loss of energy at each energy transfer in various trophic levels of organisms which goes into the environment and remains unutilized. In other words, we can say that the amount of energy available at each successive trophic level is less than the energy available at the producer level.
Thus, when we move from the first trophic level of producers (plants) to second trophic level of herbivores and third trophic level of carnivores, the amount of energy available gradually decreases. This is because at each trophic level, energy is lost as heat energy which goes into the environment.