A student writes five statements. Each has one mistake…
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A student writes five statements. Each has one mistake. Say what is wrong, and write each one correctly.
- The ten per cent law says that ten per cent of the biomass passes to the next level.
- The pyramid of energy of the sea is inverted because the phytoplankton have a small biomass.
- The herbivores of a field get the gross primary productivity.
- In a forest, most of the energy flows through the grazing food chain.
- The earthworm is the main decomposer of the soil.
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
. The NPP feeds the grazing chain and the detritus. At the energy at T3 is . In a steady ecosystem, the heat that leaves equals the GPP.
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. (a) The law is about energy, not biomass. About of the energy passes to the next level.
Step 2. (b) The pyramid of biomass of the sea is inverted. The pyramid of energy is always upright.
Step 3. (c) The herbivores get the net primary productivity. The plants use a part of the GPP in respiration.
Step 4. (d) In a forest (terrestrial), most of the energy flows through the detritus food chain.
Step 5. (e) The earthworm is a detritivore. It fragments the detritus. The decomposers are bacteria and fungi.
Answer: (a) energy; (b) biomass; (c) net productivity; (d) detritus chain; (e) detritivore.
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