if 20 joule of energy trapped at producer level then how much energy w...
if 20 joule of energy trapped at producer level then how much energy w...
Energy Transfer in a Food Chain
In a food chain, energy flows from one organism to another through the transfer of food. The energy is obtained by organisms at each trophic level, starting from the producer level (plants) and ending with the top consumer. Let's calculate the amount of energy available to the peacock as food, given that 20 joules of energy are trapped at the producer level.
Trophic Levels
1. Producer Level (Plants): The producers, such as plants, convert sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis. They trap 20 joules of energy.
2. Primary Consumers (Mice): The primary consumers, such as mice, feed on the plants and obtain energy from them. However, not all the energy is transferred to the mice. Only a fraction of the energy is assimilated, while the rest is lost as heat or used for metabolic processes. On average, the efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels is around 10%. Therefore, the mice would receive 10% of the energy trapped at the producer level.
Energy available to mice = 10% of 20 joules = 0.1 * 20 joules = 2 joules
3. Secondary Consumers (Snake): The secondary consumers, such as snakes, feed on the primary consumers (mice) and obtain energy from them. Similar to the previous step, only a fraction of the energy is transferred to the snake. Let's assume another 10% efficiency for energy transfer between trophic levels.
Energy available to snake = 10% of 2 joules = 0.1 * 2 joules = 0.2 joules
4. Top Consumers (Peacock): Finally, the peacock, as a top consumer, preys on the secondary consumers (snakes) and obtains energy from them. Again, assuming a 10% efficiency for energy transfer, we can calculate the energy available to the peacock.
Energy available to peacock = 10% of 0.2 joules = 0.1 * 0.2 joules = 0.02 joules
Therefore, the energy available to the peacock as food in this given food chain is 0.02 joules.