the organisms in a food chain are listed in order of trophic level from left to right. plant grasshopper…

the organisms in a food chain are listed in order of trophic level from left to right. plant grasshopper mouse snake hawk based on the food chain, if a hawk acquires 50 calories of energy, how much energy did the grasshopper get from the plant? 500 calories 5,000 calories 50,000 calories 500,000 calories

the organisms in a food chain are listed in order of trophic level from left to right. plant grasshopper mouse snake hawk based on the food chain, if a hawk acquires 50 calories of energy, how much energy did the grasshopper get from the plant? 500 calories 5,000 calories 50,000 calories 500,000 calories

Answer

Explanation:

Step1: Recall energy - transfer rule

In a food - chain, only about 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Step2: Work backwards from hawk to grasshopper

The hawk is at the 5th trophic level, and the grasshopper is at the 2nd trophic level. There are 3 steps from the hawk to the grasshopper. Let the energy of the grasshopper be $E$. The energy of the hawk $E_{hawk}=50$ calories. We know that $E_{hawk}=E\times(0.1)^3$. So, $E=\frac{E_{hawk}}{(0.1)^3}$.

Step3: Calculate the energy of the grasshopper

Substitute $E_{hawk} = 50$ into the formula: $E=\frac{50}{0.001}=50000$ calories.

Answer:

50,000 calories