BRAINCAKECalculating Efficiency of Biomass Transfer
Ecological efficiency can be calculated for any transfer, as long as both values are in the same units (biomass or energy, per unit area per year).
ecological efficiency (%) = (biomass or energy transferred to the higher trophic level ÷ biomass or energy in the lower trophic level) × 100
Worked example 1: grass has 8000 kJ m−2 yr−1 of NPP. The rabbits eating it gain 800 kJ m−2 yr−1.
Efficiency = (800 ÷ 8000) × 100 = 10%.
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Key terms in this lesson
- net primary production
- The chemical energy that remains stored as new plant biomass after respiratory losses, available to primary consumers.
- biomass
- The mass of living material in an organism or trophic level, representing the chemical energy stored in its organic compounds.
More in Ecosystems
- Producers and Consumers
- Trophic Levels
- Biomass Transfer
- Ecological Efficiency
- Human Activities and Biomass Transfer
- Decomposers
- The Nitrogen Cycle
- Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria
All 21 lessons in Ecosystems · All OCR A-level Biology topics