Pyramid of Biomass

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GCSE Science (Biology core) Mind Map on Pyramid of Biomass, created by sian.allison on 25/02/2014.
sian.allison
Mind Map by sian.allison, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by sian.allison almost 11 years ago
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Resource summary

Pyramid of Biomass
  1. You need to be able to construct pyramids of biomass
    1. Theres less energy and less biomass every time you move up a stage (trophic level) in a food chain. There are usually fewer organisms every time you move up a level too
      1. 100 dandelions..feed..10 rabbits..which feed..one fox
      2. Each bar on a pyramid of biomass shows the mass of living material at that stage of the food chan - basically how much all the organisms at each level would weigh if you put them all together
        1. The bar along the bottom of the pyramid always represents the producer. The next bar will be the primary consumer (the animal that eats the plant) then the secondary consumer (the animal that eats the primary consumer and so on up the food chain
      3. Energy transfer
        1. All that energy just disappears somehow
          1. 1. Energy from the sun is the source of energy for nearly all life on earth
            1. 2. Green plants and algae use a small percentage of the light energy from the sun to make food during photosynthesis. This energys stored in the substances which make up the cells of plants and algae and then works its way through the food chain as animals eat them and each other
              1. 3. Respiration supplies the energy for all life processes including movement. Most of the energy is eventually lost to the surroundings as heat. This is especially true for mammals and birds whose bodies must be kept at a constant temperature which is normally higher than the surroundings
                1. 4. Some of the material which makes up plants and animals is inedible (e.g. bones) so it doesnt pass to the next stage of the food chain. Material and energy are also lost from the food chain in the organism waste materials
                  1. 5. This explains why you get biomass pyramids. Most of the biomass is lost and so does not become biomass in the next level up
                    1. 6. It also explains why you hardly ever get food chains with more than about five trophic levels. So much energy is lost at each stage that theres not enough left to support more organisms after after four or five stages
        2. Decay
          1. Living things are made of materials they take from the world around them
            1. 1.Plants take elements like carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen for the soil or the air. They turn these elements into the complex compounds (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) that make up living organisms, and these then pass through the food chain
              1. 2. These elements are returned to the environment in waste products produced by the organisms or when the organisms die. These materials decay because they are broken down by microorganisms thats how the elements get put back into the soil
                1. 3. Microorganisms work best in warm moist conditions. Many microorganisms also break down material faster when theres plenty of oxygen avaliable. Compost bins recreate these ideal conditions
                  1. Compost bin: Kitchen waste can be made into compost. Compost is decayed remains of animal and plant matter that can be used as fertiliser. It recycles nutrients back into the soil
                    1. 4. All the important elements are thus recycled they return to the soil ready to be used by new plants and put back into the food chain again
                      1. 5. In a stable community the materials taken out of the soil and used are balanced by those that are put back in. Theres a constant cycle happening
              2. The carbon cycle
                1. 1. Theres only one arrow going down from the atmosphere. The whole thing is powered by photosynthesis. CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by green plants and algae and the carbon is used to make carbohydrates, fats and proteins in the plants and algae
                  1. 2. Some of the carbon is returned to the atmosphere as CO2 when the plants and algae respire. Some of the carbon becomes part of the fats and proteins in animals when the plants and algae are eaten. The carbon then moves through the food chain
                    1. 3. Some of the carbon is returned to the atmosphere as CO2 when the animals respire
                      1. 4. When plants, animals and algae die other animals (detritus feeders) and microorganisms feed on their remains. When these organisms respire CO2 is returned to the atmosphere
                        1. 5. Animals also produce waste and this too is broken down by detritus feeders and microorganisms. Compounds in the waste are taken up from the soil by plants as nutrients they are put back into the food chain again
                          1. 6. Some useful plant and animal products e.g. wood and fossil fuels are burnt (combustion). This release CO2 back into the air
                            1. 7. So the carbon is constantly being cycled from the air, through food chains and eventually back out into the air again
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