JAMB Biology 1995 Question 32

Question 32

Feeding Relationships and Energy Flow

In a food chain involving a primary producer, a primary consumer as well as a secondary consumer, the sharing of trophic energy is in the form that the

  1. A.primary consumer has more energy than the primary producer
  2. B.secondary consumer takes up all the energy contents of the primary consumer
  3. C.energy is shared equally between the three groups of organisms
  4. D.secondary consumer gets only a small portion of the energy contained in the primary producer.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D (secondary consumer gets only a small portion of the energy contained in the primary producer.)

Explanation

Only about a tenth of the energy passes from one level to the next; the rest is lost as heat and waste, so the secondary consumer gets only a small share of what the producer trapped.