Final answer:
The ratio Ct/Ct-1 quantifies the ecological efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels in an ecosystem, reflecting how effectively biomass or energy is retained and used by organisms from one level to the next.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ratio Ct/Ct-1, where C is consumption by organisms at a trophic level and t is the trophic level, serves to quantify ecological efficiency. This ratio is important for determining how efficiently energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem. The concept of assimilation refers to the biomass (or energy content generated per unit area) of the present trophic level after accounting for the energy lost to factors such as incomplete ingestion, respiration, and waste. When considering trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE), it is defined as the production at the present trophic level multiplied by 100, then divided by the production at the previous trophic level. This gives a percentage indicating the efficiency with which energy is passed up the food chain from one trophic level to the next.