In the food chain, as nutritional energy passes from one trophic level to another (e.g., from producers to herbivores to carnivores), the amount of energy available changes.
1. Answer: A. is lost
- Explanation: As energy moves through the food chain, some of it is lost at each trophic level due to heat loss, metabolic processes, and inefficiencies in energy transfer. This means that the total amount of energy available decreases as you move up the food chain.
2. Example: When plants (producers) convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis, they capture only a fraction of the energy available. When herbivores eat these plants, they only obtain a portion of the energy stored in the plants. Similarly, when carnivores consume herbivores, they receive even less energy from the consumed organisms.
3. Conclusion: Therefore, the correct statement is that energy is lost as it passes through the food chain, making option A the most appropriate choice in this context.
