biomass is measured as the dry mass of biological material in grams.
what is the problem with measuring biomass?
you have to kill the living organisms to dry them out, however wet biomass in grams can also be used which does not involve killing organisms but this is not as useful as the water content of an animal varies.
what is biomass used for?
some is taken in and passed as faeces or other waste materials.
other is used for respiration. very little biomass is actually passed on to the next organism.
what do decomposers do?
break down dead plant and animal matter by secreting enzymes into the environment.
how much biomass is actually transferred?
only 10%
photosynthetic organisms are the producers of biomass
how do food chains work?
feeding relationships within a community can be represented by food chains. all food chains begin with a producer which synthesises molecules - usually a green plant or alga which makes glucose by photosynthesis.
