In a food chain. Why would the tertiary or the final consumer get the least amount of energy from the producers and not the decomposers?

Question

I’ve come upon this question on a test today and answered “decomposers”. I was then told that the final consumer was the right answer. I don’t understand since what eats those final consumers are the decomposers when they die so in my mind I think they would get least amount of energy from producers. I am confused.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Because decomposers don’t just get energy from the bottom of the chain, they get it from everyone, coz every organism produces waste, and the decomposers repurpose that waste, so the decomposers get way more energy supply from the elephant poo then the ants gets from the bottom of the chain