In an energy pyramid, it is generally observed that producers (such as plants) typically convert only a small portion of the energy they take in from the sun into biomass. A common rule of thumb in ecology is the 10% rule, which states that only about 10% of the energy at one trophic level is passed on to the next level, while the rest is lost as heat and used for metabolic processes.
For your question, if the producer contains about 1,000 kcal of energy:
- If we follow the 10% rule, then about 90% of the energy would be lost or used.
- Therefore, the amount of energy used by the producer or lost as heat would be approximately 900 kcal.
Thus, the correct answer is 900 kcal.
1 answer