energy transfer in trophic levels

Question	Answer
NPP=	GPP-respiration
The sun's energy is not converted into organic matter by plants because: 1. 2. 3. 4.	1.sunlight may be reflected 2. wavelength absorbed may not be suitable for photosynthesis 3. light may not hit a chloroplast 4. there may be another limiting factor
how is energy lost in a food chain?	1. when some of the organism isn't eaten. 2. some parts of the organisms is not digested and is excreted. 3. respiration 4. maintaining body temperature
Why do food chains only have four or five trophic levels maximum?	energy is lost at each trophic level via muscle contractions, so if there were more than five trophic levels then the energy reaching the organisms at the top of the food chain would be an insufficient amount that would be able to support them.
why is the total mass ( biomass) decrease as you go up a food chain?	energy is lost at each trophic level so organisms higher up the food chain gain less energy so less is converted to their biomass.
why does the total amount of energy stored decrease as you move up a food chain?	energy is lost a each trophic level via muscle contractions so less energy is stored by the organism.
what unit is used for energy available?	kJ m^-2 year-1
what three things do you need to consider when looking at energy available?	1. unit of energy - J or kJ 2. area 3. time
energy transfer=	(energy available after transfer / energy available before transfer) x 100

Resource summary

	Created by sferrier96 over 9 years ago