Consider the following food chain: hawk - rabbit - clover.Each species will contain a different amount of calories in its body (clover: 10 calories,rabbit: 500,and hawk: 1200).Each species has a different daily caloric requirement (clover: sunlight,rabbit: 100 calories,hawk: 300).How many clover plants,per day,does it take to support one hawk?
A)approximately 600 clover plants
B)approximately 30 clover plants
C)approximately 60 clover plants
D)approximately 3 clover plants
E)None,clover plants do not support hawks.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To support one hawk, we need to consider the energy transfer through the food chain. A hawk requires 300 calories per day. A rabbit provides 500 calories, so a hawk needs 300/500 = 0.6 rabbits per day. Each rabbit requires 100 calories per day, which is equivalent to 100/10 = 10 clover plants. Therefore, 0.6 rabbits require 0.6 * 10 = 6 clover plants per day. However, since the hawk's caloric requirement is higher, we need to multiply by the energy transfer efficiency (typically around 10%), resulting in approximately 600 clover plants needed to support one hawk.

Consider the Following Food Chain: Hawk - Rabbit - Clover