Question

unit 2, standard 2.3 study guide
name: bitachi dadhrai

1. algae → fish → seal → killer whale if you were to make a biomass pyramid from this food chain, would the following data make sense? why or why not? 4000 kg of algae, 8000 kg of fish, 400 kg of seal, and 40 kg of whale. explain your answer and place it into the pyramid below. make any changes needed.

answer:

Explanation:

Step1: Recall biomass pyramid concept

In a biomass pyramid, biomass generally decreases as you move up the food - chain. Producers have the most biomass and top - level consumers have the least.

Step2: Analyze given data

Algae are producers with 4000 kg, fish (primary consumers) have 8000 kg, seal (secondary consumers) have 400 kg and killer whale (tertiary consumers) have 40 kg. The amount of biomass for fish (8000 kg) is more than that of algae (4000 kg), which violates the general rule of the biomass pyramid.

Step3: Suggest correction

The biomass of fish should be less than that of algae. A possible correction could be to swap the values of algae and fish biomass, so that algae have 8000 kg and fish have 4000 kg, with seal at 400 kg and whale at 40 kg.

Answer:

The given data does not make sense because the biomass of fish (8000 kg) is more than the biomass of algae (4000 kg), which goes against the typical pattern of a biomass pyramid where biomass decreases as you move up the food - chain. A possible correction is to have 8000 kg of algae and 4000 kg of fish, 400 kg of seal and 40 kg of whale.