Biology Topic 5 Productivity , Net production of consumers , energy from NPP

What is net primary production? (NPP)

The energy remining in plant tissues after respiatory losses

(NPP is the energy the plant keeps after it has used some energy for respiration)

What is NPP used for in plants?

Plant growth and reproduction

How does NPP enter a food chain?

When herbivores eat plant biomass or decomposers break it down

What is a comsumer?

An organism that gains energy by eating other organisms

What happens to the energy in ingested food?

Some is transferred to consumer biomass, some is lost

What is net production of consumers ?

Chemical energy tradferred to new biomass in consumers

What is another name for net production of consumers?

Secondary production

What is the equation for net production of consumers?

N = I - (F + R)

What do the letters in the equation for net productions of consumer represent?

Net production of consumer = Ingested good - (Faeces and urine + Respiratory losses)

Why is energy lost in faeces?

Consumers cannot digest everythinh (e.g cellulose, fur, bones)

Why is energy lost in urine?

Excess amino acids are in the urea which is excreated

What does R represent?

Respiratory losses (energy lost as heat)

What is productivity?

The rate of primary or secondary production

What is primary production?

Energy is transferred to plant biomass

What is secondary production?

Energy transferred to consumer biomass (net production of consumers)

What units are used for productivity?

Energy or mass per area/ volume per time e.g J m⁻² day⁻¹

What is the difference between production and productivity?

Production - no time

Productivity = includes time