transfer of biomass

• consumer

  an organism that gets its nutrition from eating others
• producer

  an organism that produces its own nutrients - plants are the only type of producers
• efficiency = (biomass transferred/biomass intake) x100
• efficiency = ((herbivore/primary consumer energy)/producer energy) x100
• improving productivity

  • gross primary productivity
  • net primary productivity
• gross primary productivity

  • rate at which plants convert light energy to chemical energy
  • only about 40% of light energy enters light reaction of photosynthesis - 1/2 used in glucose production
• net primary productivity

  • amount of energy that enters the food chain from the initial energy
• NPP

  • NPP only available to consumers
  • NPP=GPP-R
• primary productivity- entry of biomass to a food chain

  -limiting factors

  • light levels
  • water level
  • temperature
  • pests
  • disease
  • competition
• secondary productivity- transfer between trophic levels

  -limiting factors

  • older organisms use less for growth
  • disease
  • slow producing/growing species
  • energy used to survive