Which of the following statements is true? A)Water and energy are not recycled in an ecosystem. B)Weathering is the main way phosphorous is recycled. C)The total amount of energy in an ecosystem continuously increases. D)The organism at the top of a food chain receives the most energy from the sun.
Biology · High School · Mon Jan 18 2021
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Correct answer is b ( Weathering is the main way phosphorous is recycled. )
Energy is not recycled in ecosystems and each ecosystem requires a continuous input of energy to sustain it. There is some energy transformed at each level of the food chain or food web in an ecosystem. In an ecosystem, energy is frequently transformed from one form to another.
As little as 10 percent of the energy at any trophic level is transferred to the next level; the rest is lost largely through metabolic processes as heat.
As you move up the pyramid, through the trophic levels to primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, the amount of energy decreases and the levels become smaller. While energy can not be created or destroyed is it released as heat within each level. Approximately only 10% of energy is passed from one level to the next.