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The longer the food chain the less raw energy is available to the ones near the top. Energy transfer is at a 10% rate from one level to another. If we commence with plants at 100% the next level up will receive 10%. So they have to eat a plethora of grass to meet their nutritional needs. The next one up receives 1% and so on. So the longer the food chain the more of that lower caliber must be eaten to maintain their health and salubrity. That would mean a prodigiously and sizably voluminous carnivor would have to eat perpetually to amintain their caliber. This could wipe out all those animals living below them in the chain.
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThere is rarely enough energy in the food chain to allow depletion per level up to 4 levels or higher. A plant has 100% uses some of that for photosynthesis or respiration etc, rabbit eats plant gets 90% runs around and uses up some of that energy. Fox eats rabbit gets 50%, fox now needs 2 rabbits for the full 100%, runs around and hunts depleting more energy. Bear eats fox and gets 10%, bear now needs to eat 10 foxes for the same amount of energy as when it eats 2 rabbits. It is therefore more energy efficient and cost efficient for the bear to just hunt the rabbits instead.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThey actually do exceed three to four levels, for example...
- Plankton is eaten by tiny fish.
- The tiny fish are eaten by medium-sized fish (about a Salmon's size).
- The medium-sized fish are eaten by big fish.
- The big fish are eaten by seals.
- The seals are eaten by sharks.
- The sharks are sometimes eaten by humans.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoA consumer is something that eats something eg. an example foodchain: grass (producer) worm (consumer) bird (consumer) larger bird of prey (consumer). The reason usually they only contain three consumers is because nothing can eat the last consumer because it is too big.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoEnergy is lost between links in a food chain; higher levels have fewer living things, so food chains rarely exceed four links.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoFood chains rarely exceed 4 levels/links because there isn't enough energy in the food chains to go over 4 levels.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoEnergy decreases due to lost energy in metabolism so if it was any longer, there'd be no energy left for the animals farthest along.
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Why must animals high on the food chain eat many organisms at lower levels?
It is important for an organism to belong to a lower trophic level because the lower levels receive more energy for their food. Organisms on the higher levels also rely on all the lower levels.
How does the carabao affect the grassland?
carabaos are buffaloes. so they help in the food chain. only if they die, there will be an adverse effect on the food chain.
What is the shortest food chain in the food web?
It involves only a plant and a decomposer.
How does a food web differ from a food chain?
food web goes in turns eg when a grasshopper eats grass a rat or any animal can feed on it and a human can also feed on the animal too. while food chain is like a chain of food e.g grass to NY INSECT THEN TO AN ANIMAL THEN THE FINAL STAGE THE CONSUMER WHICH IS KNOWN AS THE MAN.
How many organisms need to be in a food chain to carry out cellular respiration?
a food chain should only consist of four or five organisms to carry our cellular respiration
How many trophic levels can monkeys occupy in a food chain?
Monkeys can only occupy one which is the secondary consumer
What is the process where pollution levels increase through the food chain?
increase in concentration of a pollutant from one link in a food chain to another. Biomagnification is the bioaccumulation of a substance up the food chain by transfer of residues of the substance in smaller organisms that are food for larger organisms in the chain. It generally refers to the sequence of processes that results in higher concentrations in organisms at higher levels in Biomagnification: the food chain (at higher trophic levels). These processes result in an organism having higher concentrations of a substance than is present in the organism's food. Biomagnification can result in higher concentrations of the substance than would be expected if water were the only exposure mechanism. Accumulation of a substance only through contact with water is known as bioconcentration..
How industrial malpractices on the minamata bay tragedy lead to the disruption of the natural food chain in the area as well as the health profile of the people living in it?
It seems it show that the food chain is only limited And they receive small amount if energy
How long can a food chain be?
A food chain can only be up to 5 trophic levels in length, including the producer. Only a small proportion of the previous organism's energy is passed down through trophic levels to the next organism. This diminishes the energy available, so there is little or no energy to be gained after the 5th stage of a food chain. :)
Why must animals high on the food chain eat many organisms at lower levels?
It is important for an organism to belong to a lower trophic level because the lower levels receive more energy for their food. Organisms on the higher levels also rely on all the lower levels.
Reason that this food chain has only five levels is that?
Only about 10% of the energy in one level goes on to the next level (it is VERY inefficient). Because of this, after 5 levels (max), there isn't enough energy left to form another level.
Why is a producer the first living thing in a food chain?
Producers are the only members of the food chain that create food. Therefore they must be the first in the food chain because they are the source of the food.
Why is a producer the first living thing in the food chain?
Producers are the only members of the food chain that create food. Therefore they must be the first in the food chain because they are the source of the food.
Explain what a food web is and how it differs from a food chain?
a food web is when you have different varieties and it differs because a food chain is only a line
What is the causes of biomagnifiction?
Biomagnification: increase in concentration of a pollutant from one link in a food chain to another. Biomagnification is the bioaccumulation of a substance up the food chain by transfer of residues of the substance in smaller organisms that are food for larger organisms in the chain. It generally refers to the sequence of processes that results in higher concentrations in organisms at higher levels in the food chain (at higher trophic levels). These processes result in an organism having higher concentrations of a substance than is present in the organism's food. Biomagnification can result in higher concentrations of the substance than would be expected if water were the only exposure mechanism. Accumulation of a substance only through contact with water is known as bioconcentration..good Luck
How is a food web diffrent from a food chain?
A food web shows many consumers, producers etc. and a food chain shows only one strand.
What would happen in a food chain if the consumers died?
If all the consumers in a food chain died, only the lowest rung of a food chain (the autonomic non-consumer) would survive.
