Assertion (A) : Vulture will always have the least amount of pesticides in a food chain.

Reason (R) : Vulture occupies the last trophic level and it gets only 10% of energy of the previous trophic level.

options

1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
2. Both A and R are true, and R is not the correct explanation of A.
3. A is true but R is false.
4. A is false but R is true.

A is false but R is true.

Reason —

• Assertion (A) is false because vultures, being top carnivores or scavengers, actually have the highest amount of pesticides in their bodies, not the least.
  This happens due to a process called biological magnification, in which the concentration of harmful chemicals like pesticides increases at each higher trophic level of the food chain.
  Therefore, since vultures feed on other animals that already contain pesticides, these toxins accumulate in their bodies in maximum concentration.

• Reason (R) is true because vultures occupy the last trophic level and receive only 10% of the energy from the previous level according to the 10% law of energy transfer. However, this concept is related to energy flow, not to the accumulation of pesticides

Hence, A is false but R is true.