Question

© ck-12 foundation 2022
creative commons, cc by-sa 4.0
which statement describes the relationship between the law of conservation of energy and the energy pyramid shown?

the amount of available energy decreases as you move up the pyramid because some energy is transferred to the environment as heat.

the environment can sustain more organisms as the trophic level increases because more energy conversions have taken place.

the number of grasshoppers exceeds the number of rats because their source of energy is the sun and fewer energy conversions have taken place.

the population of tertiary consumers is greater than that of the secondary consumers because they occupy the highest trophic level in the energy pyramid.

Explanation:

The law of conservation of energy states energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. In an energy pyramid, as energy moves up trophic levels, most energy is lost as heat to the environment (only ~10% transfers to the next level), reducing available energy. The other options are incorrect: higher trophic levels support fewer organisms, grasshoppers outnumber rats because they are lower on the pyramid with more available energy (not just direct sun access), and tertiary consumer populations are smaller than secondary consumers.

Answer:

The amount of available energy decreases as you move up the pyramid because some energy is transferred to the environment as heat.