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Explain why food chains usually have fewer than five trophic levels.
See it on the paper →Explain why the energy transfer from one trophic level to another is not efficient.
See it on the paper →Fig. 4.2 shows another food chain that includes the python. monkey banana tree python Fig. 4.2 Explain why it is more efficient for the python to eat a monkey and not a frog. Include trophic levels in your answer.
See it on the paper →Describe three ways energy is lost between trophic levels.
See it on the paper →Explain why there are fewer numbers of organisms in the 3rd trophic level than in the 2nd trophic level.
See it on the paper →Why do food chains usually have fewer than five trophic levels?
See it on the paper →For every 100 kJ of energy in the herbivore, how much energy will be transferred to the tertiary consumer?
See it on the paper →Stronger candidates understood that the relative position of the monkey and the frog in their respective food chains needed to be compared. The idea that energy is lost between trophic levels was commonly seen. Not all candidates gave examples of ways this loss occurs. Common incorrect ideas included that it was more efficient to eat a monkey as it was larger than a frog, or that the monkey was hi...
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0654/41 Q4(b) (Cambridge)
A minority of candidates misinterpreted the question and gave types of energy. However, most candidates were able to gain at least one or two of the marks allocated by correct description of how energy is lost between the trophic levels, with respiration and references to movement seen most commonly.
— Examiner report, February/March 2022, 0654/42 Q7(c) (Cambridge)
In order to gain full marks in this explanation, candidates needed to state that energy is lost between each trophic level, give a reason why this is the case and link this to the amount of energy available to the highest trophic level. Many candidates stated that energy was lost between the levels but were unable to give a reason for this. Only a small number of candidates linked the energy losse...
— Examiner report, October/November 2021, 0654/43 Q4(b)(iv) (Cambridge)
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