<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >

Productivity within trophic levels

Productivity within an ecosystem can be defined as the percentage of energy entering the ecosystem incorporated into biomass in a particular trophic level. Biomass is the total mass, in a unit area at the time of measurement, of living or previously living organisms within a trophic level. Ecosystems have characteristic amounts of biomass at each trophic level. For example, in the English Channel ecosystem the primary producers account for a biomass of 4 g/m 2 (grams per meter squared), while the primary consumers exhibit a biomass of 21 g/m 2 .

The productivity of the primary producers is especially important in any ecosystem because these organisms bring energy to other living organisms by photoautotrophy or chemoautotrophy. The rate at which photosynthetic primary producers incorporate energy from the sun is called gross primary productivity    . An example of gross primary productivity is shown in the compartment diagram of energy flow within the Silver Springs aquatic ecosystem as shown ( [link] ). In this ecosystem, the total energy accumulated by the primary producers (gross primary productivity) was shown to be 20,810 kcal/m 2 /yr.

Because all organisms need to use some of this energy for their own functions (like respiration and resulting metabolic heat loss) scientists often refer to the net primary productivity of an ecosystem. Net primary productivity is the energy that remains in the primary producers after accounting for the organisms’ respiration and heat loss. The net productivity is then available to the primary consumers at the next trophic level. In our Silver Spring example, 13,187 of the 20,810 kcal/m 2 /yr were used for respiration or were lost as heat, leaving 7,632 kcal/m 2 /yr of energy for use by the primary consumers.

Ecological efficiency: the transfer of energy between trophic levels

As illustrated in [link] , large amounts of energy are lost from the ecosystem from one trophic level to the next level as energy flows from the primary producers through the various trophic levels of consumers and decomposers. The main reason for this is that in biologic systems, a great deal of energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level consume the next level. In the Silver Springs ecosystem example ( [link] ), we see that the primary consumers produced 1103 kcal/m 2 /yr from the 7618 kcal/m 2 /yr of energy available to them from the primary producers. The measurement of energy transfer efficiency between two successive trophic levels is termed the trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE)    and is typically somewhere around 10% - 15% in a given ecosystem

Art connection

 Flow chart shows that the ecosystem absorbs 1,700,00 calories per meter squared per year of sunlight. Primary producers have a gross productivity of 20,810 calories per meter squared per year. 13,187 calories per meter squared per year is lost to respiration and heat, so the net productivity of primary producers is 7,618 calories per meter squared per year. 4,250 calories per meter squared per year is passed on to decomposers, and the remaining 3,368 calories per meter squared per year is passed on to primary consumers. Thus, the gross productivity of primary consumers is 3,368 calories per meter squared per year. 2,265 calories per meter squared per year is lost to heat and respiration, resulting in a net productivity for primary consumers of 1,103 calories per meter squared per year. 720 calories per meter squared per year is lost to decomposers, and 383 calories per meter squared per year becomes the gross productivity of secondary consumers. 272 calories per meter squared per year is lost to heat and respiration, so the net productivity for secondary consumers is 111 calories per meter squared per year. 90 calories per meter squared per year is lost to decomposers, and the remaining 21 calories per meter squared per year becomes the gross productivity of tertiary consumers. Sixteen calories per meter squared per year is lost to respiration and heat, so the net productivity of tertiary consumers is 5 calories per meter squared per year. All this energy is lost to decomposers. In total, decomposers use 5,060 calories per meter squared per year of energy, and 20,810 calories per meter squared per year is lost to respiration and heat.
This conceptual model shows the flow of energy through a spring ecosystem in Silver Springs, Florida. Notice that the energy decreases with each increase in trophic level.

Why do you think the value for gross productivity of the primary producers is the same as the value for total heat and respiration (20,810 kcal/m 2 /yr)?

In Silver Springs, the TLTE between the first two trophic levels was approximately 14.8 percent. The low efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels is usually the major factor that limits the length of food chains observed in a food web. The fact is, after four to six energy transfers, there is not enough energy left to support another trophic level. In the Lake Ontario example shown in [link] , only three energy transfers occurred between the primary producer, (green algae), and the apex consumer (Chinook salmon).

Questions & Answers

what is defense mechanism
Chinaza Reply
what is defense mechanisms
Chinaza
I'm interested in biological psychology and cognitive psychology
Tanya Reply
what does preconceived mean
sammie Reply
physiological Psychology
Nwosu Reply
How can I develope my cognitive domain
Amanyire Reply
why is communication effective
Dakolo Reply
Communication is effective because it allows individuals to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.
effective communication can lead to improved outcomes in various settings, including personal relationships, business environments, and educational settings. By communicating effectively, individuals can negotiate effectively, solve problems collaboratively, and work towards common goals.
it starts up serve and return practice/assessments.it helps find voice talking therapy also assessments through relaxed conversation.
miss
Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the person begins to jumb back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the types of learning, if it is classical conditioning identify the NS, UCS, CS and CR. If it is operant conditioning, identify the type of consequence positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment
Wekolamo Reply
please i need answer
Wekolamo
because it helps many people around the world to understand how to interact with other people and understand them well, for example at work (job).
Manix Reply
Agreed 👍 There are many parts of our brains and behaviors, we really need to get to know. Blessings for everyone and happy Sunday!
ARC
A child is a member of community not society elucidate ?
JESSY Reply
Isn't practices worldwide, be it psychology, be it science. isn't much just a false belief of control over something the mind cannot truly comprehend?
Simon Reply
compare and contrast skinner's perspective on personality development on freud
namakula Reply
Skinner skipped the whole unconscious phenomenon and rather emphasized on classical conditioning
war
explain how nature and nurture affect the development and later the productivity of an individual.
Amesalu Reply
nature is an hereditary factor while nurture is an environmental factor which constitute an individual personality. so if an individual's parent has a deviant behavior and was also brought up in an deviant environment, observation of the behavior and the inborn trait we make the individual deviant.
Samuel
I am taking this course because I am hoping that I could somehow learn more about my chosen field of interest and due to the fact that being a PsyD really ignites my passion as an individual the more I hope to learn about developing and literally explore the complexity of my critical thinking skills
Zyryn Reply
good👍
Jonathan
and having a good philosophy of the world is like a sandwich and a peanut butter 👍
Jonathan
generally amnesi how long yrs memory loss
Kelu Reply
interpersonal relationships
Abdulfatai Reply
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Bi 101 for lbcc ilearn campus. OpenStax CNX. Nov 28, 2013 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11593/1.1
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Bi 101 for lbcc ilearn campus' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask