Final answer:
The correct answer is A. Trophic transfer. It refers to the flow of energy moving throughout plankton, DOM, and the smallest zooplankton in an ecosystem.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer is A. Trophic transfer. Trophic transfer refers to the flow of energy moving throughout plankton, DOM (dissolved organic matter), and the smallest zooplankton, making energy available to the major food web. It represents the transfer of energy from one trophic level to another in an ecosystem.
Energy flows through an ecosystem in a unidirectional manner, with primary producers (such as plants or phytoplankton) converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis. This energy is then transferred to primary consumers (herbivores) when they eat the primary producers. The energy continues to flow through the food web as higher-level consumers consume lower-level consumers, in a sequential energy transfer process known as trophic transfer.