Question

a herbivore ingests 6 kcal of energy. it gains 1 kcal in biomass, uses 2 kcal in respiration, and egests 2 kcal as waste. what percent of the ingested energy is available to the next trophic level? round your answer to the closest 0.1%.

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate available energy

The available energy for the next trophic level is the energy that is not used in respiration or egested as waste. The ingested energy is 6 kcal, the energy used in respiration is 2 kcal and the energy egested as waste is 2 kcal. So the available energy $E = 6-(2 + 2)=2$ kcal.

Step2: Calculate percentage of available energy

The percentage of available energy $P=\frac{2}{6}\times100\%=\frac{100}{3}\% \approx 33.3\%$

Answer:

33.3%