Question

1 use the florida everglades food web to construct one food chain the food chain must begin with a primary producer and end with a consumer that is not eaten by any other organism in the web. (list the organisms in order, using arrows to show the direction of energy flow.) 1
2 which explanation best describes how energy is transferred through trophic levels in the florida everglades, based on the data scientists collected during their biomass study?
(1) energy is recycled between producers and consumers, allowing energy to build up in higher - level organisms and support larger populations at the top of the food web.
(2) energy flows from consumers to producers through respiration, allowing plants to absorb energy from animals and use it to increase their own biomass.
(3) energy enters the ecosystem through producers that convert sunlight, but only a small portion of that energy is passed on to organisms at higher trophic levels.
(4) energy enters the food web through decomposers that break down waste and return energy to the soil, where it accumulates in plant roots.

Explanation:

Question 1

Step1: Identify primary producers

Primary producers in the food web are Phytoplankton, Microphytobenthos, Seagrass, Spartina alterniflora. Let's choose Phytoplankton.

Step2: Identify consumers of primary producer

Zooplankton eats Phytoplankton (from the web: Phytoplankton → Zooplankton).

Step3: Identify next consumer

Shrimp eats Zooplankton (Zooplankton → Shrimp).

Step4: Identify next consumer

Gynoglossus semilaevis eats Shrimp (Shrimp → Gynoglossus semilaevis).

Step5: Identify top consumer (not eaten by others)

Synechogobius hasta eats Gynoglossus semilaevis, and check if Synechogobius hasta is eaten by any? From the web, no other organism eats it. So the chain is Phytoplankton → Zooplankton → Shrimp → Gynoglossus semilaevis → Synechogobius hasta. (Other valid chains are possible too, e.g., using other producers and consumers as long as energy flow is correct and ends with a top consumer.)

• Option 1: Energy is not recycled between producers and consumers; energy is lost (as heat, etc.) at each trophic level, so higher levels have less energy, not more. Eliminate.
• Option 2: Energy flows from producers to consumers (not vice versa). Plants make their own food via photosynthesis, not by absorbing energy from animals. Eliminate.
• Option 3: Producers (like plants, phytoplankton) convert sunlight to chemical energy (photosynthesis). Only ~10% of energy is passed to next trophic level (rest lost as heat, used in respiration, etc.). This matches energy transfer in ecosystems.
• Option 4: Energy enters via producers (photosynthesis), not decomposers. Decomposers recycle nutrients, not introduce new energy to the food web. Eliminate.

Answer:

Phytoplankton $
ightarrow$ Zooplankton $
ightarrow$ Shrimp $
ightarrow$ Cynoglossus semilaevis $
ightarrow$ Synechogobius hasta (or other valid chain like Spartina alterniflora $
ightarrow$ Gastropods $
ightarrow$ Crabs $
ightarrow$ Lateolabrax japonicus, etc., as long as starts with producer, ends with top consumer)

Question 2