Energy transfer...

Energy transfer...

1. Around 2% of light energy is transferred from the Sun.

   • Some energy are reflected back in to the surface by the leaves.
   • Not all wavelength of light can be absorbed and used for photosynthesis.
   • Not all the light hits the chlorophyll molecule

2. 10% of energy is transferred between each trophic level

   • Not all the food are digested
     • Lost in Faeces
   • Heat loss via respiration
     • losses are high in mammals, they have higher temperature
       • Much energy is needed to maintain the body temperature

3. Food chain

   • First trophic level is Producers
     • Herbivores are animals that eat plants
       • Carnivores are animal that consume other animals.
         • Decomposers
           • Detritovers
       • Primary consumers
     • Arrow shows the direction of energy transfer
     • Each stage in the food chain is referred to as trophic level
   • describes a feeding relationship in which the producers are eaten by primary consumers.
     • Many food chains are interlinked to make food webs.
       • Complexity
   • No more than 5 species- energy is lost at each level
     • Only limited amount of energy is available for the next trophic level

4. Pyramids...

   • Pyramid of Energy
     • Actual representation of the data
     • KJ^m-2 year^-1
     • Always in the same format
   • Pyramid of numbers
     • is the number of organisms of each trophic level in the food chain
     • No. of individuals can be so great, so it is impossible to represent them in the same food chain.
     • Width of bars- log scale
   • Pyramids of biomass
     • dry mass by killing the organism
       • Biomass is the mass of living material.
       • Seasonal difference in marine ecosystem is apparent.
     • g^m-2

Images and files in the map