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Question
what is the most limiting factor affecting the amount of tertiary consumers in a large and diverse ecosystem? the supply of consumers the supply of energy the supply of sunlight the supply of producers
In an ecosystem, energy flows through trophic levels. Producers convert sunlight into energy. Consumers (including tertiary consumers) rely on this energy. However, energy transfer is inefficient (only about 10% of energy is passed from one trophic level to the next). So, the amount of energy available severely limits the number of tertiary consumers. While producers are important (they start the energy flow), sunlight is just the initial energy source. The supply of consumers (other than tertiary) is not the main limiting factor for tertiary consumers compared to energy.
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The supply of energy