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9 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Plants normall convert ______ of the Sun's energy available to them into organic matter
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1 - 3 percent
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Why is most of the Sun's energy not converted into organic matter?
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Over 90% of the SUn's energy is reflected back into space by clouds and dust or absorbed by the atmosphere
Not all wavelengths of light can be absorbed and used for photosynthesis Light may not fall on a chlorophyll molecule A factor, such as low carbon dioxide levels, may limit the rate of photosynthesis |
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The total quantity of energy that the plants in a community convert to organic matter is called the _____ __________
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gross production
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What is the energy that plants store called?
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net production
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net production =
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gross production - respiratory losses
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How much of the net production is used by primary consumers for growth?
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About 10%!
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Why is there a low percentage of energy transfer in each stage?
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Some of the organism is not eaten
Some parts are eaten but cannot be digested and are therefore lost in faeces Some of the energy is lose in excretory materials, such as urine Some energy losses occur as heat from repiration and directly from the body to the environment (high in mammals due to being warm blooded) |
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What does the inefficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels explain?
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Why most food chains have only four or five trophic levels (insufficient energy is available to support a large enough breeding population at trophic levels higher than these)
The total mass of organisms in a particular place (biomass) Is less at higher trophic levels The total amount of energy stored is less at each level as one moves up a food chain |
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Energy transfer =
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(energy available after the transfer/energy available before the transfer) * 100
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