Question

In a well-balanced ecosystem, squirrels eat nuts, raccoons feed on squirrels, and bears feed on raccoons. It was observed that there were more squirrels and fewer raccoons. This situation indicates that . The least amount of energy from the Sun will be received by the .

Answer 1

The situation indicates that squirrels are at lower trophic level in comparison to raccoons, and bear will receive the least amount of energy from the Sun.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given food chain, the nuts producing plants are producers, and the squirrels are the primary consumer, the raccoons are the secondary consumer and the bears are the top consumers. In a pyramid, the number of organisms is present highest at the base, and its numbers get reduced as one moves towards the top of the pyramid. It can be witnessed from the given food chain that the squirrels hold the lower level in comparison to raccoons, thus the squirrels are more in number. As one moves towards the top, there is a decrease in the captivation of energy obtained from the Sun, thus, bears who are at the top of the food chain will receive the least amount of energy.