Question

The amount of energy at the fourth trophic level in the food chain given below is 4 J.

Grass → Zebra → Crocodile → Vulture 

What wil be the amount of energy available at the sunlight and transducer level?

Answer 1

Lindeman’s 10% law: Only 10% energy is transferred to the next level. Transducers (plants) capture only about 1% of sunlight.

Work backwards from Vulture (T4):

- T4 (Vulture) = 4 J

- T3 (Crocodile) = 4 × 10 = 40 J

- T2 (Zebra) = 40 × 10 = 400 J

- T1 (Grass/Transducer) = 400 × 10 = 4, 000 J

The transducer (Grass) energy is 4,000 J.

Since plants capture only 1% of incident solar energy:

Sunlight = 4, 000 × 100 = 4, 00, 000 J

Energy at Transducer level = 4,000 J; Sunlight energy = 4,00,000 J.