A river food chain works as follows:
Algae → insects → salmon → bears
The producers in the ecosystem produce 8,000,000 kilocalories of energy via photosynthesis. The bears need 100 kilocalories to survive. Can the ecosystem support the bears, and if so, how many individuals?
(1 point)
Responses
no, 0 individuals
no, 0 individuals
yes, 80 individuals
yes, 80 individuals
yes, 800 individuals
yes, 800 individuals
no, 0.8 individuals
The flow of energy in a food chain typically follows the 10% rule, where only about 10% of the energy is passed on to the next trophic level. In this case, if the producers produce 8,000,000 kilocalories of energy, the insects would receive about 800,000 kilocalories, the salmon would receive about 80,000 kilocalories, and finally, the bears would receive about 8,000 kilocalories.
Since the bears need 100 kilocalories to survive, the ecosystem can support 80 individuals (8,000 kilocalories divided by 100 kilocalories per bear). Therefore, the correct response is:
yes, 80 individuals