The process by which energy is moved from one point in an ecosystem or food chain to another. The energy is transferred first to plants from the Sun by photosynthesis and then to animals and micro- organisms as chemical food energy when they eat or decompose them. Energy is also transferred to the environment as heat during respiration and movement.
The moving of energy from one storage unit to another. In the process of feeding, an animal transfers energy (measurable in calories) from the plant to its body.
In physics, energy transfer describes the process of transferring energy from one system to another.