Question

Use the model here to describe the transfer of matter and flow of energy from one trophic level to another within an ecosystem. All of the following must be addressed in your response to receive full credit:
a. Discuss the transfer of biomass when one organism eats another. Use your knowledge of digestion to discuss how food is broken down and used by the consumer.
b. Explain what happens to the energy that is not transferred from one organism to another.
c. Explain why there are typically fewer organisms at the top of an energy pyramid.
d. Use specific numbers and calculations to support your explanation.

Answer 1

The food chain and food web are used to transfer energy. Plants, who are the primary energy providers in the ecosystem, use their chloroplasts to collect sunlight, which is then partially converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis.

a)

• When herbivores eat (are the primary consumers of) plants as food, this energy is transferred to the primary consumers in the food chain.
• This energy is stored in various organic products in plants. Then, the chemical energy contained in plant products is converted into kinetic energy, degrading the energy by turning it into heat. The secondary consumers come next.
• Further deterioration will occur when these herbivores are consumed by secondary consumers.
• Finally, energy will once more be destroyed when tertiary consumers eat the carnivores. As a result, the energy flow is only in one direction i.e., unidirectional.

b)

• Additionally, the energy flow in a food chain adheres to the 10% law.
• This law states that only 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, with the remaining 90% being lost during the digestion process of the organism itself.

c)

• There are typically fewer organisms at the top of an energy pyramid because It has the least quantity of energy, the top level of an energy pyramid has the fewest organisms.
• Most ecosystems only have four trophic levels because there is eventually insufficient energy to maintain further trophic levels.

d)

• For instance, let us assume that a plant at the producer level produces 1000 Kcal of energy.
• When a primary producer eats this plant, it will only get 10% of the energy produced by the plant i.e., 1000/10 = 100 Kcal. the rest 90% will be used up by the plant itself for its metabolism.
• Further when a secondary consumer eats the primary consumer, it will only get 10% of the energy produced by the plant i.e., 100/10 = 10 Kcal.
• Lastly, as the tertiary consumer eats the secondary consumer, it will only get 10/10 = 1kcal.

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