In class I had to make an organism and explain how it adapts to it's imaginary environment. We have to explain the amount of food of eats everyday too. my teacher said that Theres a 10% rule to follow but I don't know what it is. Can u help? Do you know the 10% rule that helps balance out an ecosystem?
Absolutely! The 10% rule is a principle in ecology that explains how energy flows through an ecosystem. According to this rule, only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
Here's how it works: Let's say you have an imaginary environment with different organisms, and each organism belongs to a specific trophic level (level in the food chain). The first trophic level is usually occupied by producers, such as plants or algae, which convert sunlight energy into food through photosynthesis.
When a herbivorous organism, like a rabbit, consumes plants, it only absorbs about 10% of the energy stored in those plants. The remaining 90% is either used by the plant for its own metabolic processes or is lost as heat.
Next, when a carnivorous organism, like a snake, feeds on the rabbit, it can only obtain about 10% of the energy stored in the rabbit. This continues as you move up the food chain with each trophic level receiving only about 10% of the energy from the previous level.
The 10% rule helps to explain why food chains and food webs in ecosystems tend to have fewer organisms at higher trophic levels. Since each level can only support about 10% of the energy from the level below, energy becomes increasingly scarce as you move up the food chain. This is why top predators, like lions or eagles, are typically fewer in number compared to primary producers like plants.
So when explaining the amount of food an organism eats, you can keep the 10% rule in mind. For example, if the organism is a herbivore, you can estimate the amount of energy available in the plants it consumes and mention that it can only obtain about 10% of that energy for its own use.