Green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture approximately what percentage of the sunlight energy that fal…

Question

Green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture approximately what percentage of the sunlight energy that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy?
(A) 10%
(B) 5%
(C) 1%
(D) 0.1%

Accepted Answer

## Model Answer **(C) 1%** Green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture about **1%** of the energy of sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy. Source: Chapter 13, Section 13.1.1 – Food Chains and Webs --- ## Explanation The passage explicitly states: *"The green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture about 1% of the energy of sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy."* Do not confuse this with the **10% law**, which refers to energy transfer between trophic levels (i.e., only 10% of food eaten by one level passes to the next). These are two different figures and are frequently mixed up in MCQs.

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