Chapter 20, Problem 7SQ

Summary Introduction

To determine: The reason why eating grain-fed beef a relatively inefficient means of obtaining the energy trapped by photosynthesis.

Introduction:

All living organisms require energy for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. The ecosystem is maintained by the flow of energy and nutrients acquired from external sources. Ecological pyramids of productivity explain the production of biomass at each trophic level, that is, the flow of energy at each level. The energy is high at the lower trophic levels and decreases on the upper part of the pyramid.