Pyramids Of Biomass/Energy transfer and Decay Flashcards
What happens every time you move up a stage in a pyramid of biomass?
Theres less energy and less biomass
What does each bar represent?
The mass of living material at that stage in the food chain
Essentially how much the organisms would weigh at that stage if you put them together
What do the first three bars represent?
Producer
Primary consumer
Secondary consumer
What do green plants and algae do?
Use a small percentage of the suns light energy from the sun to make food during photosynthesis
The energy is then stored and makes its way through the food chain as animals eat the plants and then each other
How does respiration affect energy levels?
Supplies the energy for all life processes including movement
Most of this is lost as heat to surroundings (especially animals whose body must be kept at constant temp usually higher than their surroundings)
How does having some plant and animal material such as bone that is inedible affect energy transfer?
It can’t be eaten so doesn’t get passed on to the next stage of the food chain
Material and energy are also lost from the food chains in organisms waste material
Why do we hardly ever get food chains more than about five levels?
So much energy is lost at each stage that there’s not enough to support another organism after five stages
What sorts of substances do plants absorb which are then passed through the food chain?
Carbon Oxygen Hydrogen Nitrogen They turn them into complex compounds
How are these absorbed elements returned to the environment?
As waste product produced by the organisms or
when they die materials decay because they’re broken down by microorganismes releasing elements back into the soil ready to be reused and put back into the food chain
What conditions do microorganism work best in?
Warm
Moist
Good oxygen availability
What is a stable community?
Where materials taken out of the soil and used are balanced by those being put back in = constant cycle happening
