As the sun shines on Earth, plants use its energy to complete the process of photosynthesis. Energy is transformed during the process into chemical energy in the form of sugars, such as carbohydrates. However, the energy available at top consumers is much less than that produced by autotrophs. Why is this so?

There are fewer top consumers than producers in a food web.

There are more producers than consumers in the food web.

Primary and secondary consumers compete for food.

Most of the energy is used for life's processes.

The top of the food chain consumes the least amount of energy because producers that are eaten by the first consumers in a food chain only receive about 10% of the energy that the autotrophs have. As you go up the food chain, 90% of the energy that the prey contains is not consumed. This is why the top consumer receives the least amount of energy from autotrophs.

Explanation:

you didn't give any options but heres what i can tell you: an inference is likely to change based on additional observations. the latter is something that you have seen or sensed using your sensory organs while the former is like a conclusion out from what you have observed.