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)

Question

Responses

There will be more organic matter available.
There will be more organic matter available.

They both have the same amount of organic matter.
They both have the same amount of organic matter.

Organic matter does not transfer between the plant and the mouse.
Organic matter does not transfer between the plant and the mouse.

There will be less organic matter available.

Answer 1

There will be less organic matter available.

In a food chain, energy and organic matter are lost at each trophic level due to metabolic processes, respiration, and waste production. Therefore, the plant will have more available organic matter than the mouse, and the mouse will have more than the snake, and so on.