The correct answer is D. Lindeman.
The 10% law of energy transfer in food chains was proposed by Raymond Lindeman in 1942. According to this law, only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is passed on to the next level in a food chain. The rest of the energy is lost as heat, used in metabolic processes, or stored in non-consumable parts of the organisms. This principle is key to understanding energy flow in ecosystems.
Here’s how the law works:
• Primary producers (like plants or phytoplankton) capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis.
• Primary consumers (herbivores) eat the producers and use the energy for their own growth and metabolism.
• Secondary and tertiary consumers (carnivores and omnivores) consume the primary consumers, but only a fraction of the energy is passed on to them.
For example, if a plant captures 1000 units of energy from the sun, only about 100 units will be available to the herbivores that eat the plant, and only about 10 units will be passed on to the carnivores that eat the herbivores.
Here’s a breakdown of the other options:
• A. Elton: Charles Elton was a British ecologist who made significant contributions to food chain theory, but he did not propose the 10% law.
• B. Schimper: Schimper was a botanist who contributed to the study of plant geography and plant ecology, but he did not propose the 10% law.
• C. Haekel: Ernst Haeckel was a German biologist known for his work in ecology and the development of the concept of the "ecological niche," but he did not propose the 10% law.
Thus, the 10% law of energy transfer in food chains was given by Raymond Lindeman.