Question
If producers have 100% of the energy source in this model, then what percentage of energy, which originated from the producer, does a third level consumer have?
100%
1.00%
0.01%
10.0%
0.10%
100%
1.00%
0.01%
10.0%
0.10%
Answers
GPT-4o mini
In a typical ecological model (such as a food pyramid), energy transfer between trophic levels is generally understood to follow the 10% rule, which states that approximately 10% of the energy from one trophic level is passed on to the next.
If we start with producers having 100% of the energy:
- Primary consumers (level 1) would receive about 10% of the energy from producers, so they would have 10%.
- Secondary consumers (level 2) would receive about 10% of the energy from primary consumers, so they would have 1%.
- Tertiary consumers (level 3), or third level consumers, would then receive about 10% of the energy from secondary consumers, resulting in about 0.1%.
Therefore, a third level consumer has **0.10%** of the original energy produced by the producers.
If we start with producers having 100% of the energy:
- Primary consumers (level 1) would receive about 10% of the energy from producers, so they would have 10%.
- Secondary consumers (level 2) would receive about 10% of the energy from primary consumers, so they would have 1%.
- Tertiary consumers (level 3), or third level consumers, would then receive about 10% of the energy from secondary consumers, resulting in about 0.1%.
Therefore, a third level consumer has **0.10%** of the original energy produced by the producers.