Biomass Transfer

• Biomass


  The mass of living material. Biomass stores energy.
• Biomass transfer


  1. Energy from the Sun

  2. Producers use energy for photosynthesis

  3. Producers make biological molecules that make up biomass

  4. Biomass transferred through food chain

  5. Biomass lost between trophic levels
• Only about 1% of the energy that hits producers is transferred for photosynthesis
• Only about 10% of the biomass is passed on to the next trophic level
• Reasons for biomass loss between trophic levels

  • Organisms don't eat every part of the organism they're consuming
  • Organisms don't absorb all of the stuff in the food they ingest
  • Biomass converted into other substances that are lost as waste
• Organisms use a lot of glucose (obtained from the biomass) in respiration to provide energy for movement and keeping warm, etc. rather than to make more biomass. This process produces lots of waste carbon dioxide and water as by-products.
• Urea is another waste substance, which is released in urine with water when the proteins in the biomass are broken down.
• Biomass transfer example


  • rosebush: 43 kg
  • greenflies: 4.2 kg
  • ladybirds: 0.4 kg
  • bird: 0.04 kg
• Calculating efficiency of biomass transfer

  Biomass transferred to the next level / Biomass available at the previous level x 100
• The efficiency of biomass transfer from the 1st trophic level = 4.2 kg ÷ 43 kg x 100 = 9.8%