B2 - Energy flow Flashcards
Where does the energy in a food chain come from?
Energy in a food chain comes from the organism that has been eaten.
Why are plants called producers?
They produce the food.
Why are other organisms called consumers?
They consume the food and get their food from other organisms.
What is a trophic level?
Any class of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain.
What is a herbivore?
A herbivore is an animal that eats plants.
What is a carnivore?
An animal that eats other animals.
What is a pyramid of biomass?
A pyramid of biomass is the dry mass of an organism in a food chain.
Why can a pyramid of numbers look odd?
This is because a producer may be very large and only one may be needed in the food chain.
What is an omnivore?
An animal that eats both plants and animals.
Why is it difficult to find the dry mass of a live animal?
To find the dry mass all water must be lost by heating it up which you cannot do with live animals.
Why are omnivores difficult to fit into a pyramid of numbers?
They can appear at more than one trophic level.
Give an example of one producer in a food web.
Grass.
How can energy be lost in a food web?
- movement
- egestion
- heat loss
- respiration
Why is the length of a food chain limited?
Because too much energy would be lost if it was a long food chain.
Explain why humans would have better energy efficiency if they were vegetarians.
This is because not as much energy is lost from plants whereas lots of energy is lost in animals.
