FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS
I. Food chain models
A. How to construct a systems model
1. The boxes or state variables
i. what the boxes are
ii. what the boxes contain
iii. how to measure what's in the boxes
2. The arrows or transfer functions
i. what the arrows mean
ii. how to measure what's in the arrows
3. What a food chain model means
B. Efficiency of food chains
1. What does efficiency mean?
2. Pyramids in nature
C. The reality of trophic levels
II What moves?
A. Energy
1) Form C_C bonds
2) 2nd law of thermodynamics - loss
B. Matter
1) Carbon
2) Nitrogen
3) Phosphorus
4) other nutrients
III. Other views - Food webs
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Efficiencies of energy transfer
(n = trophic level)
1. Assimilation
efficiency
Assimilation at n
Ingestion at n
2. Ecological Growth
efficiency
Net productivity at n
Ingestion at n
3. Tissue Growth
efficiency
Net productivity at n
Gross productivity at n
4. Biological
efficiency
Gross productivity at n
Gross productivity at (n-1)
5. Ecological
efficiency
Ingestion at n
Ingestion at (n-1)
6. Net efficiency
Net Productivity at n
Net productivity at (n-1)
7. Food Chain efficiency
Ingestion at n
Energy available to (n-1)
8. Ingestion efficiency
Ingestion at n
Net productivity at (n-1)
9. Exploitation
efficiency
Ingestion of food
Prey production
10. Assimilation
efficiency
Assimilation
Ingestion
11. Net production
efficiency
Production
Assimilation
12. Gross production
efficiency
Production
Ingestion
13. Ecological
efficiency
Consumer production
Prey production
~ Gross Primary Production
a measure of food conversion
efficiency