Final answer:
Producers capture energy through photosynthesis, which is referred to as gross primary productivity (GPP). The energy that remains after accounting for the producers' own respiration and heat loss is called net primary productivity (NPP). The transfer of energy between trophic levels is inefficient, resulting in a loss of energy at each level.
Step-by-step explanation:
The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem is referred to as gross primary productivity (GPP). GPP is the total amount of energy captured by producers through photosynthesis. However, not all of this energy is available to other organisms in the ecosystem. The energy that remains after accounting for the producers' own respiration and heat loss is called net primary productivity (NPP).
The transfer of energy between trophic levels in an ecosystem is not very efficient, resulting in a loss of energy. According to studies, the energy transfer efficiency between trophic levels is relatively low. In a specific ecosystem example, primary producers generated 20,819 kcal/m²/yr, while primary consumers only received 3368 kcal/m²/yr of that energy. Similarly, secondary and tertiary consumers received even less energy.
Therefore, the amount of energy captured by producers is significantly higher than the amount available to higher trophic levels due to energy losses at each level.