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If the grasshopper contains 450 units of energy, then approximately how many units will the owl receive upon eating the mouse? *

a. 450 units
b. 45 units
c. 4.5 units
d. 0.45 units

User Akrsmv
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The owl would receive approximately 4.5 units of energy from the mouse if the energy transfer efficiency is about 10% between trophic levels.

Step-by-step explanation:

If we assume the energy transfer between trophic levels is approximately 10% (which is a widely accepted average), then if a grasshopper contains 450 units of energy, the mouse would receive about 45 units after eating the grasshopper (10% of 450). Subsequently, when the owl eats the mouse, it would only receive around 4.5 units of energy from the mouse (10% of 45), assuming that there's no other energy loss and that the owl gets all the energy from the mouse's body. This principle is part of the 10% rule in ecological pyramids where each level only captures about 10% of the energy from the level below it.

User ZhangTengyuan
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