In a food pyramid, there is typically less biomass at the top (there are fewer individual tertiary consumers, whereas there are numerous individual producers). Why is there typically less biomass at the top of a food pyramid compared to the base?(1 point)

Question

Responses

Because energy is lost at each level of the food chain, less energy is available to support tertiary consumers, resulting in fewer individuals at the top.
Because energy is lost at each level of the food chain, less energy is available to support tertiary consumers, resulting in fewer individuals at the top.

Because tertiary consumers store more energy than producers, leading to less energy loss and smaller populations at the top of the food pyramid.
Because tertiary consumers store more energy than producers, leading to less energy loss and smaller populations at the top of the food pyramid.

Because tertiary consumers are more efficient at energy transfer, allowing them to support large populations despite limited energy availability.
Because tertiary consumers are more efficient at energy transfer, allowing them to support large populations despite limited energy availability.

Because producers rely on tertiary consumers for energy, limiting the growth of producer populations at the base of the food pyramid.

Answer 1

The correct response is:

Because energy is lost at each level of the food chain, less energy is available to support tertiary consumers, resulting in fewer individuals at the top.

This answer accurately reflects the principle of energy transfer in ecological systems, where energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels due to losses mainly through metabolic processes as heat. This energy loss limits the biomass and population size of organisms at higher trophic levels (such as tertiary consumers).