Question

Suppose a plant is eaten by a mouse, the mouse is consumed by a snake, and the snake is in turn consumed by a hawk. What could be assumed about the level of available organic matter in the mouse versus the plant?(1 point) Responses Organic matter does not transfer between the plant and the mouse. Organic matter does not transfer between the plant and the mouse. They both have the same amount of organic matter. They both have the same amount of organic matter. There will be less organic matter available. There will be less organic matter available. There will be more organic matter available.

Answer 1

The correct response is: There will be less organic matter available.

In ecological terms, this is related to the concept of energy transfer in trophic levels. When energy is transferred from one level to the next (from the plant to the mouse), some energy is lost as heat and through metabolic processes. This means that while the mouse may get organic matter from the plant, the amount of organic matter available to the mouse will be less than that of the plant. Similarly, the snake that eats the mouse will also have less organic matter available from the mouse, and this trend continues up the food chain, resulting in less organic matter at each subsequent trophic level.