Lesson 4 - Biomass Pyramids & Transfer

Question 1

What is placed at the base of a pyramid of biomass?

Answer 1

The producer

Question 2

What does the bar width represent?

Answer 2

The number of organisms present

Question 3

What do pyramids of biomass show?

Answer 3

The population at each trophic level

Question 4

How to calculate the width of each bar?

Answer 4

Biomass / scale factor

Question 5

True or false : Only around 10% of biomass is transferred to the next level

Answer 5

True

Question 6

Biomass is lost when:

Answer 6

Not all of an organism is eaten (plant root or bones e.t.c.)
Some of the biomass is used in respiration (for movement and heat)
Some parts of an organism are egested as they can’t be digested (hair)
Waste products produced by the body are lost through excretion and urine

Question 7

Formula to calculate the efficiency of biomass transfer:

Answer 7

% efficiency = (biomass in higher tropic level) / (biomass in lower trophic level) * 100