Energy Transfer

Question 1

Bacteria in soil feed on _______.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

organic matter

Question 2

Which of the following organisms is located only in the 3rd trophic level of the soil food web?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

protozoa

Question 3

Relate the concept of gross and net production to the concept of energy conversion.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Gross production is the total energy captured by producers. Net production is gross production minus energy lost to respiration. The difference between gross and net production determines the efficiency of energy conversion to the next trophic level (~10%).

Question 4

Which of the following statements about energy and trophic levels is not true?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

The energy conversion efficiency decreases at higher trophic levels.

Question 5

The average conversion energy from producers to primary consumers is _______.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

10%

Question 6

Increases in entropy lead to _______.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

irreversible changes

Question 7

Explain how entropy relates to the amount of energy that is available in the different trophic levels of a food chain.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Entropy increases with every energy transfer between trophic levels. Because usable energy is lost as heat, less energy remains available for work at higher trophic levels.

Question 8

What limits the amount of work that a system can do?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

The amount of usable (free) energy; increases in entropy reduce the fraction of energy available to perform work.

Question 9

Put the following organisms in an aquatic food chain in the order in which energy flows through them, explaining the reason for their placement.small fish, mammal, phytoplankton, zooplankton

Revolt · Accepted Answer

phytoplankton → zooplankton → small fish → mammal. Energy flows from producers (phytoplankton) to primary consumers (zooplankton) to secondary consumers (small fish) to tertiary consumers (mammal).

Question 10

Explain how the biomass of a species is limited by their trophic level.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Only ~10% of energy is transferred to each successive trophic level (the 10% rule). Therefore higher trophic levels receive far less total energy, supporting lower biomass of organisms at those levels.

Energy Transfer Answers

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