Ecosystem Question 107
Question: Which of the following organism types would probably rank the highest in terms of their expected efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels?
Options:
A) Herbivorous mammal
B) Carnivorous mammal
C) Invertebrate herbivore
D) Invertebrate carnivore
Show Answer
Answer:
Correct Answer: A
Solution:
[a] Because they spend so much energy maintaining constant high body temperatures, mammals (and birds) have very low production efficiencies.
Herbivores are less efficient than carnivores because digesting plant tissues requires more energy than digesting animal tissues.
BETA
