In a city park, a certain type of flower attracts bees, which in turn attracts robin birds that feed on the bees and then attracts falcons that feed on the robins. Based on this food web, which type of animal would most likely have the smallest population?
To determine which type of animal would most likely have the smallest population in this food web, we need to examine the concept of energy transfer in a food chain.
In this scenario, we have a food chain that includes flowers, bees, robins, and falcons. The flower attracts bees, which are then preyed upon by robins. Finally, the robins are preyed upon by falcons.
At each level of the food chain, there is an energy transfer. However, with each transfer, only a portion of the energy from the lower level is actually passed on to the next level. This phenomenon is known as the 10% rule, where only about 10% of the energy is transferred up the food chain.
Considering this, we can infer that the animal with the smallest population would be the one at the highest trophic level, which in this case is the falcons. Since energy is lost at each trophic level, there is less energy available for organisms at higher levels. This results in fewer individuals being able to sustain themselves and a smaller population size.
Therefore, the falcons would most likely have the smallest population in this food web.