In a food chain, what is the series of steps that involves organisms transferring energy through consumption?

The correct choice highlights the concept of a food chain, which is a linear sequence of organisms through which energy and nutrients are transferred as one organism consumes another. In a food chain, each step or link represents a different level of the ecosystem, comprising producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and so on.

Producers, such as plants, convert solar energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis, serving as the starting point of the chain. Primary consumers, typically herbivores, then eat these producers, capturing some of that energy for their own metabolic needs. This process continues with consumers at higher trophic levels, illustrating the pathway of energy flow within an ecosystem.

While "energy cycle" refers to the movement of energy through ecosystems, emphasizing the transformation and flow rather than a specific sequence of consumption, it does not accurately describe the structured progression seen in a food chain. "Data chain" does not relate to biological concepts and is not relevant here. A food web, on the other hand, depicts a more complex interconnection of multiple food chains within an ecosystem, indicating the diversity of feeding relationships and energy pathways, but it does not focus on the linear sequence characteristic of a food chain.

Thus, the food chain specifically encapsulates the process of energy