Suppose that plants are able to convert 80 percent of the energy that they obtain into biomass,and that the ecological efficiency of primary consumers is 20 percent.For every calorie that is converted into primary consumer biomass,how much energy must be captured and converted into chemical energy?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To calculate the amount of energy that must be captured and converted into chemical energy, we need to work backwards from the 1 calorie of primary consumer biomass.

First, we need to determine how many calories of plant biomass are required to produce 1 calorie of primary consumer biomass. Since the ecological efficiency of primary consumers is 20%, we know that only 20% of the plant biomass that the primary consumer eats will be converted into primary consumer biomass. Therefore, 1 calorie of primary consumer biomass requires 5 calories of plant biomass (1/0.2 = 5).

Next, we need to determine how much energy must be captured and converted into chemical energy by plants to produce 5 calories of plant biomass. Since plants convert 80% of the energy they obtain into biomass, we know that to produce 5 calories of plant biomass, 6.25 calories of energy must be captured and converted into chemical energy (5/0.8 = 6.25).

Therefore, the answer is C) 6.25 calories.

Suppose That Plants Are Able to Convert 80 Percent of the Energy