Feeding Relationships

Question 1

How do energy and minerals cycle through marine ecosystems?

Answer 1

Solar Energy -> pp -> herbivores ->carnivores -> decomposers (all levels), heat (all levels) -> nutrients -> pp

Question 2

What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

Answer 2

Food chain is one dimensional whereas food web is multidimensional to show different relationships

Question 3

What is a tropic level?

Answer 3

A group of organisms occupying the same position in a food web

Question 4

What affects the amount of energy available to higher tropic levels?

Answer 4

Amount of primary production, trophic transfer efficiency, number of tropic levels

Question 5

What does the size of each tropic level in a tropic pyramid indicate?

Answer 5

Relative biomass of organisms in that tropic level

Question 6

How is production at the highest tropic level and primary production related?

Answer 6

Positively correlated

Question 7

What are the principle types of marine food chains?

Answer 7

Oceanic, coastal, upwelling

Question 8

How to calculate trophic transfer efficiency?

Answer 8

E=p_tn/p_tn-1

Question 9

How to determine potential production

Answer 9

Pot. production = B*E^n

Question 10

What are the characteristics of the oceanic food web?

Answer 10

Very long food chains, very small cells, lowest PP, most total production/year (more area), least mean fish production

Question 11

What are the characteristics of the coastal food web?

Answer 11

Short, more production/efficient

Question 12

What are the characteristics of the upwelling food web?

Answer 12

Very short food chain, very efficient, highest mean pp, least total pp, greatest mean fish production