Question

When the energy flow through an ecosystem is measured at each trophic level, approximately __________ of the available energy passes from one level to the next.

Answer 1

5-20%

Step-by-step explanation:

Only approximately 5-20% of energy is passed from the one trophic level to the next trophic level and 10% law says only 10% energy is transferred. The rest of the energy is lost as heat and some energy is lost as undigested food.

So due to this at each level, most of the energy is lost and very less energy is available for the higher trophic level. This is the reason the number of organisms at higher trophic levels is very less and the trophic level is limited to 4 trophic levels.