Ecology Pyramids

Ecology Pyramids

Ecology Pyramids

  1. Sunlight
  2. 3190000kcal per square meter per year
  3. .8%
  4. Photosynthesis
  5. By eating the organisms in the previous level
  6. 400o0 kcal
  7. 90% of energy is lost as heat as it is transferred through trophic levels
  8. .6%
  9. .09%
  10. Only a tiny fraction of the original energy remains. The biomass would have to increase substantially if this system were to support another trophic level beyond the hawk
  11. Since little energy is available for a single hawk, there would not be enough energy in an ecosystem to support a large population of hawks
  12. Any photosynthesizing organism such as other trees, flowers grasses and moss
  13. Omnivores, carnivores, anything that eats herbivores
  14. Both have the same organisms in the same trophic levels. Both have the same number of trophic levels. Pyramid A has 2 Oak trees in the first trophic level while pyramid B has 100, 000 oak leaves in the first trophic level. The shape is different
  15. In pyramid B, the number of organisms decreases from one level to the next. In pyramid A , the first level has a small number of organisms and the remaining levels follow the same pattern as in pyramid A
  16. The oak tree is the same, but the caterpillars eat only the oak tree leaves
  17. The producers in Pyramid A are two oak trees, but the actual trophic source on these two producers is tens of thousands of leaves. Only the leaves are eaten by the caterpillars, so the number of leaves is much more relevant than the number of trees
  18. 11,000 g/m
  19. 40g/m
  20. The biomass decreases steadily
  21. No. the mass of the producers is smaller than the mass of primary consumers. After that level, the biomass of each trophic level decreases steadily
  22. Photoplankton reproduce rapidly so they can sustain a large number of primary producers
  23. Biomass varies drasticalley with different organisms, the important issue is not the number of organisms, but now much of that mass is used as food. Another important issue is the speed with which food sources grow and reproduce

Succession

  1. Barren
  2. No
  3. There is no soil, only rock, so roots would not be able to take hold and there is also a lack of nutrients
  4. Small ferns, mosses and lichens
  5. Seed blown by the wind, dropped by birds, etc.
  6. Diagram B
  7. Low nutrient requirements, small or low growing shallow roots systems
  8. Taller plants can receive more sunlight and shade out smaller plants therefore decreasing the competition. More sunlight would increase the rate of photosynthesis helping the plant grow
  9. The number of pioneer organisms because they are struggling to survive
  10. As the plant dies out, they decay and enrich the composition of the soil, adding humus and nutrients.
  11. Grazing animals would leave footprints for the seeds to lie in and leave manure to fertilize the seeds. They consume early pioneer species to make room for the next colonizers and aid in seed dispersal
  12. The level of grazing can impact any further succession as the animals eat the young plant shoots
  13. Primary succession in the successive rise and fall of population of plants from original colonizers to mature trees and shrubs, beginning with barren rock that has no initial soil layer
  14. The trees are taller so they can out-compete other plants for light, they are slower growing so they can withstand short term changes in conditions
  15. Temperature, amount of light and length of day and water availability.
  16. The climax community
  17. A fire has burned the forest and destroyed it
  18. Natural lightning or man started the fire
  19. The process of succession will have to start over again
  20. Yes evidence is provided in diagram F, where once again a climax community is established
  21. There is no colonizing by lichens and mosses as soil or some other substrate is already present. This speeds up the recovery time from hundreds of years to tens of years
  22. Because the already present climax community was set back by the fire and is starting form an area with soil rather than starting from a barren land
  23. Primary succession
  24. Secondary succession
  25. Secondary succession
  26. Primary succession
  27. Not always. Man is responsible for deforestation by cutting down trees for lumber or land development
  28. Forest managements, controlled burning, managed animal grazing
  29. Selective logging will open up small spaces for light penetration, which allows existing saplings to grow rapidly and fill in the gaps. Clear cutting of large areas will open up land and begin the process of full decondary succession so the area will take longer to regenerate.
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