transfer of biomass

Question 1

producer

Answer 1

convert light energy into chemical energy by photosynthesis

Question 2

carnivore

Answer 2

eats only other animals

Question 3

herbivore

Answer 3

eats only plants

Question 4

omnivore

Answer 4

eats both animals and plants

Question 5

primary consumer

Answer 5

eats producers, usually a herbivore

Question 6

secondary consumer

Answer 6

eats primary consumer usually a carnivore but could also be omnivore

Question 7

trophic level

Answer 7

position or stage that something occupies a food chain

Question 8

why is energy used up along food chain

Answer 8

not sufficient biomass and energy left to support other organisms

Question 9

biomass

Answer 9

the mass of living material present in a particular place or in particular organisms

Question 10

how to measure biomass

Answer 10

mass of fresh material
dry mass (collect and kill organisms, put in oven at 80c, use calorimeter measure energy content)

Question 11

advantages of using mass of fresh material to measure biomass

Answer 11

easiest

Question 12

disadvantages of using mass of fresh material to measure biomass

Answer 12

unreliable, mass of water varies greatly throughout day and depending on environment
water does not have correlation with the amount of energy present within an organism

Question 13

biomass per trophic level

Answer 13

biomass of each organism x the number of organisms in that trophic level

Question 14

ecological efficiency

Answer 14

the efficiency with which biomass or energy is transferred from one trophic to the next

Question 15

efficiency of producers

Answer 15

rate at which energy passes through each trophic level in a food chain

inefficient, 90% of available solar energy is reflected, some through leaf, some unstable wavelength, only small amount of energy is absorbed by chloroplast

Question 16

gross primary productivity

Answer 16

the total solar energy that plants convert to organic matter

Question 17

of the light energy that is actually absorbed by chloroplasts, some might not be converted to chemical energy, why

Answer 17

other factors may limit photosynthesis, e.g. water availability
some energy is lost as it is used for photosynthesis

Question 18

net primary productivity

Answer 18

the proportion of energy from the sun available to enter the food chain
only 1-3% of suns energy is converted to biomass

Question 19

primary production

Answer 19

biomass made by a producer

Question 20

net production

Answer 20

energy available to pass onto the next. trophic level
gross production - respiratory losses

Question 21

gross production

Answer 21

total solar energy that plants convert to organic matter

Question 22

respiratory losses

Answer 22

plants us 20-50% of their energy for respiration

Question 23

efficiency of consumers

Answer 23

at each trophic level convert at most 10% of biomass in their food to their own organic tissue

Question 24

how much of total energy is finally embodied in biomass in tertiary consumer

Answer 24

0.001%

Question 25

ecological efficiency

Answer 25

( energy or biomass available after transfer / before transfer ) x 100

Question 26

improving primary productivity

Answer 26

plant earlier- longer growing season to harvest more light
growing under light banks
grow in green houses - increases temp –> increases rate of photosynthesis –> increases production of biomass
crop rotation to prevent nutrient deficits
crops bred to respond to high levels of fertilisers
pesticides to prevent pests consuming biomass
GM crops - Bt genes
fungicides sprayed on crops

Question 27

improving secondary productivity

Answer 27

humans can manipulate energy transfer
harvesting animals before adulthood
selective breeding, for faster growth rates
prophylactic antibiotics
intensive farming methods