Question

A plant absorbs 200 J/g of energy from the sun. A cow eats the plant and absorbs 20 J/g of energy. The cow is fed to a group of humans who absorb 2 J/g from the meat. What is the main reason the energy consumption decreases from one consumption to the next?

Answer 1

Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level are consumed.

Answer 2

some energy is wasted as heat