Suppose a producer takes in 5,000 units of energy. A primary consumer eats the producer. A secondary consumer eats the primary consumer. The secondary consumer retains 50 units of energy. What most likely happened to the rest of the energy?(1 point)

Question

Responses

The produce and the primary consumer each released some energy and retained some energy, leaving 50 units for the secondary consumer to take in.
The produce and the primary consumer each released some energy and retained some energy, leaving 50 units for the secondary consumer to take in.

The secondary consumer took in 5,000 units of energy and released 4,995 units, leaving 5 units.
The secondary consumer took in 5,000 units of energy and released 4,995 units, leaving 5 units.

The primary consumer took in 5,000 units of energy and released 4,950 units, leaving 50 units for the secondary consumer to take in.
The primary consumer took in 5,000 units of energy and released 4,950 units, leaving 50 units for the secondary consumer to take in.

The producer released 4,950 units of the energy, leaving 50 units for the primary consumer to take in.

Answer 1

The most likely explanation is:

The primary consumer took in 5,000 units of energy and released 4,950 units, leaving 50 units for the secondary consumer to take in.

In a typical energy transfer in an ecosystem, energy is lost at each trophic level due to metabolism, respiration, and other biological processes. Therefore, the primary consumer would only retain a small portion of the energy they consume from the producer, allowing the secondary consumer to get a fraction of that energy.