Question

1.)If the original amount of energy found in the producer trophic level is 100 kcal how much is passed on to the primary consumer trophic level? How does this amount limit the number of members in the next higher level?

2.)Analyze what would happen to this ecosystem if one of the primary consumers was removed from the ecosystem? What would happen if a new tertiary consumer such as a mountain lion came into the ecosystem? Describe how each level would be affected if each of these changes occurred.

Answer 1

1)
Only 10% of energy from each trophic level is passed on to the next; therefore, the energy passed to the primary consumer will be only 10 kcal. This means that the number of primary consumers can not be as high as that of the primary consumers due to the lower amount of energy they receive.

2)
If a producer is removed from an ecosystem, then there is less energy entering the ecosystem. The ecosystem would be not sustained properly.
If a tertiary consumer is introduced, it is likely to give competition to other higher level consumers. It will also decrease the number of secondary consumers, meaning their numbers will dwindle, which will cause the numbers of the tertiary consumers to remain low.

Answer 2

Answer:

Only 10% of energy from each trophic level is passed on to the next; therefore, the energy passed to the primary consumer will be only 10 kcal. This means that the number of primary consumers can not be as high as that of the primary consumers due to the lower amount of energy they receive.

If a producer is removed from an ecosystem, then there is less energy entering the ecosystem. The ecosystem would be not sustained properly.

If a tertiary consumer is introduced, it is likely to give competition to other higher level consumers. It will also decrease the number of secondary consumers, meaning their numbers will dwindle, which will cause the numbers of the tertiary consumers to remain