Question

Consider the following food chain which occurs in the forest: Grass -> Deer -> Lion. If 10,000 joules of solar energy are available to the grass, how much energy would be available to the deer to transfer it to the lion?

a) More than 10,000 joules
b) Exactly 10,000 joules
c) Less than 10,000 joules
d) Cannot be determined without specific energy transfer efficiencies.

Answer 1

The energy available to the deer from the grass, and subsequently to the lion, would be less than 10,000 joules due to the loss of energy between trophic levels, with only about 10% of energy being passed on.

Step-by-step explanation:

When considering the food chain Grass -> Deer -> Lion, if there are 10,000 joules of solar energy available to the grass, the energy available to the deer to transfer to the lion would be less than 10,000 joules. This is due to the concept of ecological efficiency, which describes the transfer of energy between trophic levels. Only about 10% of the energy at one trophic level is stored in the next level; the rest is used by the organism or released as heat.

In the described food chain, the deer, being the primary consumer, will likely convert only about 10% of the energy it receives from the grass into biomass that can be consumed by the lion. Therefore, if the grass captures 10,000 joules of energy from the sun, the deer will likely convert around 1,000 joules for use by the next trophic level, which is the lion.