Topic 7 - Biomass Transfer

Question 1

Biomass stores ___. Plants use energy from ___ to make glucose during photosynthesis. Some of it is used by the plants and algae to make ___ which make up the plant’s ___

Answer 1

Energy, the sun, biological molecules, biomass

Question 2

Roughly how much biomass is transferred between tropic levels and how is it transferred?

Answer 2

10%, transferred when organisms eat each other

Question 3

Why is biomass lost between the levels of a food chain?

Answer 3

• Organisms don’t eat every single part of the organism they are consuming (could be inedible material)
• Organisms don’t absorb all of the stuff in food they ingest. Some is eg egested as faeces
• Some biomass taken in is converted to other substances, lost as waste

Question 4

What are some examples of how biomass taken in can be lost as waste?

Answer 4

Organisms use glucose in respiration to provide energy. It produces waste co2 and water