In a grazing food chain, if the energy available to the tertiary consumer is 40 kJ , what is the Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of the producers in this ecosystem?

Step-by-step solution

In a grazing food chain, the trophic levels are arranged as follows: Producers (1st trophic level) Primary consumers (2nd trophic level) Secondary consumers (3rd trophic level) Tertiary consumers (4th trophic level). According to Lindeman's 10% law, only 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next. Given that the energy available to the tertiary consumer (4th trophic level) is 40 kJ , we can calculate backward: Energy at 3rd trophic level = 40 kJ 10 = 400 kJ Energy at 2nd trophic level = 400