Pyramids of biomass

• What are pyramids of biomass?

  Diagrams that show you the weight of living tissues at each trophic level
• What is one way of working out the biomass of an organism in a food chain? (Long way)

  collect all of that specific organism in an area and kill them. Then dry then and weigh them, giving you dry biomass
• What is one way of working out the biomass of an organism in a food chain? (Quick way)

  Look up the dry biomass data of that specific organism in a scientific journal
• Why is dry biomass more useful than wet biomass?

  Because the moisture content of organisms can vary widely and produce inaccurate results
• Does biomass increase or decrease as you move up trophic levels?

  It decreases
• What’s the formula for efficiency of biomass transfers?

  Biomass transferred to next level / biomass available at previous level x100
• What’s another efficiency formula?

  Gain in biomass/ total biomass intake
• Why is some biomass lost (Faeces)?

  Some of the biomass eaten by animals isnt absorbed and is ejected as faeces
• Why is some biomass lost (Metabolism)?

  Some biomass is converted into metabolism waste products and are released as such (urea)
• Why is some biomass lost (Respiration)?

  It can be used by animals for respiration. The biomass forms the CO2 and H2O produced in aerobic respiration
• Why is some biomass lost (Movement)?

  To provide energy for movement and keeping warm
• How much light energy do trophic level one organisms absorb and why?

  Around 1% of light energy is absorbed and used for photosynthesis because not all the light lamps on the photosynthesising part of the leaf.
• How much biomass of each trophic level is passed onto the next?

  Approximately 10%