Question

part 3:
if 5972 calories were found in the shark, how many calories would be in the limpet trophic level, if the shark ate the starfish that ate the limpet?

Explanation:

Step1: Determine energy transfer rule

In a food chain, only about 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next. So if we go from a lower - level organism to a higher - level organism, we multiply by 0.1, and if we go from a higher - level organism to a lower - level organism, we divide by 0.1.

Step2: Calculate energy at each trophic level

We know the energy at the shark (highest level in our chain: shark → starfish → limpet) is \(E_{shark}=5972\) calories.
To get the energy at the starfish level (\(E_{starfish}\)), since energy is transferred from starfish to shark with 10% efficiency (\(E_{shark}=0.1\times E_{starfish}\)), then \(E_{starfish}=\frac{E_{shark}}{0.1}\).
To get the energy at the limpet level (\(E_{limpet}\)), since energy is transferred from limpet to starfish with 10% efficiency (\(E_{starfish}=0.1\times E_{limpet}\)), then \(E_{limpet}=\frac{E_{starfish}}{0.1}=\frac{\frac{E_{shark}}{0.1}}{0.1}=\frac{E_{shark}}{0.1^{2}}\)

Substitute \(E_{shark} = 5972\) into the formula \(E_{limpet}=\frac{5972}{0.1^{2}}\)

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Answer:

597200 calories