Question

bio 5.4 food chains and food webs
as energy moves through a food web, what happens to the amount of available energy at each trophic level?
a available energy decreases because some is released as heat into the environment.
b available energy increases because more organisms are consumed at higher trophic levels.
c available energy remains the same even though biomass decreases at each trophic level.
d available energy fluctuates either up or down depending on the number of organisms at each trophic level.

Explanation:

In a food - web, energy transfer is not 100% efficient. As energy moves from one trophic level to the next, a significant portion of it is lost as heat during metabolic processes. This is in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics. So, the available energy decreases at each successive trophic level.

Answer:

A. Available energy decreases because some is released as heat into the environment.