In an ecological food chain, approximately what percentage of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level according to Lindeman's Efficiency?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. 10 percent
- Step 1: Formulated by American ecologist Raymond Lindeman in 1942, the 10% Law of Energy Transfer models thermodynamic loss in ecosystems.
- Step 2: Roughly 90% of ingested chemical energy is dissipated at each trophic level as metabolic heat through cellular respiration, movement, and unassimilated waste, leaving only ~10% available as biomass for higher consumers.
Answer
10 percent
Why not the others: '50 percent' A 50% transfer would violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics and metabolic respiration losses in biological systems; '1 percent' 1% represents the approximate fraction of incident solar energy captured by photosynthetic plants, not trophic level transfer; '25 percent' 25% is significantly higher than empirical ecological energy efficiencies measured across diverse food webs.
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