BRAINCAKEThe Limitations of Efficiency Calculations
Efficiency calculations depend on energy values for each trophic level, and these are very hard to measure accurately. Results should always be treated as estimates.
Limitations include:
- Measuring energy content: a dried sample must be burnt in a calorimeter. Different tissues (fat, bone, wood) contain different amounts of energy, so a small sample may not represent the whole organism.
- Destructive sampling: organisms must be killed and dried, so only small samples are taken and scaled up to the whole area. Any error in a sample is multiplied when it is scaled up.
- Feeding at several levels: many animals feed at more than one trophic level (omnivores, or a fox eating both rabbits and beetles), so their energy cannot be placed at a single level.
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More in The Efficiency of Ecosystems
- Energy Losses between Consumers
- Efficiency of Energy Transfer
- Gross Primary Productivity
- Net Primary Productivity
- Energy Transfer and Food Chain Length
- Nutrient Recycling
- Conditions for Recycling Nutrients
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All 20 lessons in The Efficiency of Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics