Consider the components of a four-step food chain: producers, herbivores, carnivores, top predators. If everything is eaten at each level, how much of the energy stored by a producer is passed to the top predator?
A) 100%
B) 10%
C) 1%
D) 0.1%
E) 0.01%

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Only about 10% of the energy stored at one trophic level is passed on to the next trophic level, with the rest being lost as heat or used for the organism's own metabolism. Therefore, if everything is eaten at each level, only about 10% of the energy from the previous level will be passed on to the next level. This means that only about 0.1% of the energy stored by a producer will be passed on to the top predator.

Consider the Components of a Four-Step Food Chain: Producers, Herbivores