Review the key concepts, formulae, and examples before starting your quiz.
🔑Concepts
An ecosystem is a self-sustaining unit where biotic components (plants, animals, microorganisms) interact with abiotic components (air, water, soil, sunlight).
Biotic components are classified into Producers (autotrophs), Consumers (heterotrophs), and Decomposers (saprotrophs).
Producers, such as green plants, convert solar energy into chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis: .
Energy flow in an ecosystem is unidirectional, moving from producers to various levels of consumers.
The 10% Law states that only of the energy available at one trophic level is transferred to the next level, while is lost as heat or used for metabolic processes.
Decomposers play a vital role in nutrient cycling by breaking down dead organic matter and returning minerals to the soil.
Ecosystem services include Provisioning (food, water, timber), Regulating (climate control, water purification), Supporting (soil formation, nutrient cycling), and Cultural benefits (recreation, spiritual value).
Biodiversity ensures ecosystem stability; the more complex the food web, the more resilient the ecosystem is to environmental changes.
📐Formulae
💡Examples
Problem 1:
In a simple food chain (Grass Grasshopper Frog), if the Grass produces of energy, calculate the energy available to the Frog using the 10% Law.
Solution:
Energy at Producer level (Grass) = . Energy at Primary Consumer (Grasshopper) = of . Energy at Secondary Consumer (Frog) = of .
Explanation:
According to the 10% Law, each successive trophic level receives only of the energy from the level below it.
Problem 2:
Calculate the total biomass remaining if a forest ecosystem starts with of producer biomass and loses due to a localized drought.
Solution:
The remaining biomass is .
Explanation:
This subtraction represents the net change in available biotic resources within the ecosystem after an environmental stressor.