ECOLOGY
ENERGY FLOW AND THE FOOD CHAIN
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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it is consumed by the next trophic level
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it is lost
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it is converted into food
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it disappears
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Detailed explanation-1: -Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level are consumed by organisms from the next level.
Detailed explanation-2: -At each stage of a food chain, most of the chemical energy is converted to other forms such as heat, and does not remain within the ecosystem.
Detailed explanation-3: -Not all the energy is passed from one level of the food chain to the next. About 90 per cent of energy may be lost as heat (released during respiration), through movement, or in materials that the consumer does not digest. The energy stored in undigested materials can be transferred to decomposers.
Detailed explanation-4: -Some energy goes into animal wastes. Energy also goes into growing things that another consumer can’t eat, like fur. It’s because so much energy is lost that most food chains have just a few levels. There’s not enough energy left for higher levels.
Detailed explanation-5: -As you move up trophic levels, much of the energy in a food chain is lost, as only a small proportion of it is used for growth. The rest is used for other life processes or lost as waste.