Suppose a trout eats a smelt and then the human eats the trout. About how many of the original 1000 calories contained in the algae reach the human?
30 calories makes it into the smelt so only about 6 calories make it to the humans who ate the smelt.
1 answer
This is correct. Since only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is passed on to the next level, if 30 calories make it into the smelt, then only around 6 calories would make it to the humans who ate the trout that consumed the smelt.