The term for the transfer of energy through a food chain is called energy flow. It describes how energy is passed from one trophic level to the next, beginning with producers like plants that convert sunlight into energy via photosynthesis. As primary consumers (herbivores) eat plants, they obtain energy, which then transfers to secondary consumers (carnivores) that eat the herbivores. This process demonstrates the efficiency of energy transfer, with energy being lost at each trophic level primarily through metabolic processes as heat.