Numerical - 4

1. In a given food chain the first level carnivores on the average ingest 30% of the
production of herbivores and the second level carnivores ingest 65% of the first level
carnivores. The first level and second level carnivores assimilate 75% and 90% of the
ingested food. Estimate the assimilated energy with respected to the production of
the herbivores by the
a. First level carnivores
b. Second level carnivores

2. Plants absorb 340000 kcal/m2/yr sunlight incident on a community in the region. The
absorbed light results in a net plant production of 8833 kcal/m2/yr and
evapotranspiration of 11977 kcal/m2/yr. The herbivores consume 3368 kcal/m2/yr of
plant mass and additional intake of 536 kcal/m2/yr from other sources respiring 1760
kcal/m2/yr of it. 1478 kcal/m2/yr die of natural causes with the remaining eaten up by
the carnivores, provide a net production of 37 kcal/m2/yr for this higher tropic level
with respiration of the former level amounting to 216 kcal/m2/yr. Estimate the trophic
efficiencies for the producers, primary and secondary consumers of this food chain.

3. In a study of the energetics of a salt marsh carried out, it was found to have one
dominant plant, the grass ‘Spartina alterniflora’ apart from some algae. The trophic
organization of the marsh was a little unusual in that most of the animals there
couldn’t feed on the Spartina directly, hence had to be broken down by the bacteria.
The energy flow diagram of this eco-system is given below. Calculate the trophic
efficiency of the
a. Crabs and nematodes
b. Insects
in the diagram. All units in the figure are in kcal/m2/yr.

4. Derive the maximum efficiency for a photosynthetic process.