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    16 - Ecosystem Energetics

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    Syarif Kawandinasbangkitlah Hidayat
    1. Primary producers like plants capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis and store it in chemical bonds as biomass. 2. Only about 1-2% of the sun's energy is typically converted to and stored as biomass by primary producers. 3. As energy moves through trophic levels from producers to consumers, about 80-95% of the energy is lost at each transfer through processes like respiration, heat loss, and the digestion of indigestible materials.

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    16 - Ecosystem Energetics

    Uploaded by

    Syarif Kawandinasbangkitlah Hidayat
    395 views39 pages
    1. Primary producers like plants capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis and store it in chemical bonds as biomass. 2. Only about 1-2% of the sun's energy is typically converted to and stored as biomass by primary producers. 3. As energy moves through trophic levels from producers to consumers, about 80-95% of the energy is lost at each transfer through processes like respiration, heat loss, and the digestion of indigestible materials.

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    1. Primary producers like plants capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis and store it in chemical bonds as biomass. 2. Only about 1-2% of the sun's energy is typically converted to and stored as biomass by primary producers. 3. As energy moves through trophic levels from producers to consumers, about 80-95% of the energy is lost at each transfer through processes like respiration, heat loss, and the digestion of indigestible materials.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    395 views39 pages

    16 - Ecosystem Energetics

    Uploaded by

    Syarif Kawandinasbangkitlah Hidayat
    1. Primary producers like plants capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis and store it in chemical bonds as biomass. 2. Only about 1-2% of the sun's energy is typically converted to and stored as biomass by primary producers. 3. As energy moves through trophic levels from producers to consumers, about 80-95% of the energy is lost at each transfer through processes like respiration, heat loss, and the digestion of indigestible materials.

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    You are on page 1of 39

    Ecosystem Energetics (Chapter 6)

    1. A little physics 2. Primary production 3. Transfer of energy across trophic levels

    2 Laws of Thermodynamics 1. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed from one type to another
    conservation of energy

    2. In any transfer of energy, some energy is lost


    entropy

    1st law: all energy in an ecosystem ultimately comes from


    the sun chemical compounds (hydrogen sulfide)

    2nd law: energy is constantly being lost to the environment as heat

    Primary production capturing light energy and storing it in chemical bonds of carbon compounds
    primary productivity the rate of primary production primary producers photosynthetic autotrophs

    Energy + 6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2


    Each gram of C assimilated = 39 kilojoules (kJ) of energy stored
    Joules = unit of energy

    Biomass is dominated by carbon


    biomass and energy are equivalent

    Plants use the products of photosynthesis in 2 ways


    1. new proteins, tissues, cells, structures growth & reproduction 2. fuel for the above processes

    Assimilated Carbon

    Gross primary production (GPP) total amount of energy assimilated by photosynthesis Net primary production (NPP) energy actually stored as biomass GPP NPP = respiration

    GPP

    NPP

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Measuring NPP in nature Units: energy per unit area per year
    kJ per m2 per yr, or W per m2

    1 g C assimilated = 39 kJ energy
    can use plant biomass or CO2 uptake as an estimate of energy

    Ignoring roots annual aboveground net productivity (AANP)

    Measuring NPP in nature 1. Measure amount of CO2 absorbed by leaves


    extrapolate from a very small area

    2. Use radioactive isotopes to measure total uptake of C 3. In aquatic systems, measure changes in O2 concentration

    Light

    Dark

    Limits on Primary Production


    Light
    in shade, forest understory photosynthetic efficiency percentage of the energy in sunlight converted to NPP
    averages just 1 to 2%

    Temperature
    most plants have an optimum temperature respiration increases with temperature

    Water
    transpiration (or water use) efficiency amount of plant tissue produced per kilogram of water transpired
    2-4 g tissue/kg water

    increasing precipitation -> increased NPP some water is lost to runoff

    Nutrients
    Liebigs law of the minimum most important in deserts, open ocean, agriculture

    Transfer of energy across trophic levels


    All energy used by higher trophic levels originates with primary producers With each step in the food chain, 8095% of energy is lost

    Ecological efficiency proportion of the biomass of one trophic levels transformed into biomass at the next higher trophic level

    For heterotrophs, ecological efficiencies average 5-20% Why?


    indigestible tissues
    hair, feathers, insect exoskeletons, cartilage, bone cellulose, lignin

    maintenance costs loss of energy as heat (entropy)

    Exploitation efficiency proportion of production on one trophic level consumed by the next higher level
    usually less than 100%

    Not all food consumed by heterotrophs is transformed into biomass

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Exploitation efficiency = Ingestion/NPP

    Amount of energy actually absorbed from food is assimilated energy Assimilation efficiency proportion of ingested energy actually absorbed by the body
    seeds 80% young vegetation 60-70% grazing/browsing 30-40% wood 15% animals 60-90%

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Assimilation efficiency = Assimilation/Ingestion

    Indigestible

    Assimilation

    Growth and reproduction in heterotrophs adds biomass


    Net production efficiency = (biomass production)/(assimilated energy)
    the proportion of energy not used for maintenance and not lost as heat birds: 1% small mammals: 6% cold-blooded animals: 75%

    For plants, net production efficiency = NPP/GPP


    fast-growing temperate plants 75-85% tropical species 40-60%

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Net Production Efficiency = Growth/Assimilation Respiration, maintenance

    Indigestible

    Assimilation
    Growth

    Gross production efficiency = (biomass production)/(ingested energy)


    1-5% for warm-blooded animals 5-15% for insects up to 30% for aquatic animals

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Gross production efficiency= Growth/Ingestion

    Indigestible

    Respiration, maintenance Assimilation


    Growth

    Detritus (dead stuff) Assimilation efficiency of herbivores is only 30-70%


    most plant tissue is not digested by animals and ends up as detritus

    Two independent food chains


    herbivores
    most important in plankton communities

    detritivores
    terrestrial communities

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)


    Decomposition

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Indigestible

    Respiration, maintenance Assimilation


    Growth

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)


    Decomposition

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Ecological Efficiency = Biomass (higher level)/ Biomass (lower level)

    Indigestible

    Respiration, maintenance Assimilation


    Growth

    Respiration, maintenance Gross primary production (GPP)


    Decomposition

    Net primary production (NPP)

    Ingestion by herbivores

    Indigestible

    Respiration, maintenance Assimilation


    Ingestion by predators

    Growth

    Residence time average time that energy spends on one trophic level
    = (energy stored in biomass)/(net productivity)

    Biomass accumulation ratio residence time based on biomass rather than energy
    = (biomass)/(rate of biomass production)

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