Energy Flow Through Ecosystems

AP Biology· difficulty 4/5

A grassland ecosystem fixes 20,000 kJ/m²/yr as net primary productivity. With ~10% trophic transfer between levels, how much energy reaches tertiary consumers (level 4)?

  • A

    20 kJ/m²/yr (10⁻³ × NPP)

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  • B

    2000 kJ/m²/yr (10⁻¹ × NPP)

  • C

    200 kJ/m²/yr (10⁻² × NPP)

  • D

    2 kJ/m²/yr (10⁻⁴ × NPP)

Explanation

Producers → primary → secondary → tertiary requires three transfers at 10% each: 20000 × 0.1³ = 20000 × 0.001 = 20 kJ.

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