BIOLOGY: LIFE ON EARTH ACCESS CODE W/E
BIOLOGY: LIFE ON EARTH ACCESS CODE W/E
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781323418475
Author: Pearson
Publisher: PEARSON C
bartleby

Concept explainers

bartleby

Videos

Question
Book Icon
Chapter 29, Problem 1AC
Summary Introduction

To discuss:

How the inefficient transfer of energy between trophic levels might apply to how many humans can be fed, and with what environmental impacts, by people eating fundamentally different diets.

Introduction:

Humans are included under omnivores that mean they act as both herbivores and carnivores. Humans act as the primary, secondary, and occasionally tertiary consumers. Humans have diverse feeding habits and they differ in their principal source of nourishment. Their dependence on plant or animal sources for their nutritional requirements is also different. Humans occupy the higher trophic level in the ecosystem, so less amount of energy is captured by the human from its lower trophic level.

Expert Solution & Answer
Check Mark

Explanation of Solution

Omnivores represent those living organisms that can eat both plants and animals. Various mammals including humans are omnivores as they have diverse feeding habits and they depend on different plants and animal source for their nutritional requirement.

The variation in the feeding habit of the human leads to an “advantage for the stable ecosystem and availability of resources”.

The transfer of energy between trophic level is not very efficient. Only ten percent of the stored energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next trophic level. The inefficient transfer of energy leads to the differences in the abundance of organisms at various trophic levels. The primary trophic level is more abundant in biomass than that of the higher trophic level. The differences in the abundance of biomass at various trophic level compensate for the inefficient energy transfer within the ecosystem.

Humans have diverse feeding habits which reduce their dependence on any primary source of energy and nutrients. Humans obtain their nutritional requirements from different plants and animal sources. This, in turn, will lead to a balance consumption of various resources within the ecosystem, and thus not creates any serious environmental threat.

Conclusion

Humans are omnivores and they depend on multiple sources for their nutritional requirements. Humans have diverse feeding habits which reduce their dependence on any primary source of energy and nutrients.

Want to see more full solutions like this?

Subscribe now to access step-by-step solutions to millions of textbook problems written by subject matter experts!
Students have asked these similar questions
Living organisms play an important role in the recycling of many elements within an ecosystem. Discuss how various types of organisms and their biochemical reactions contribute to the recycling of either carbon or nitrogen in an ecosystem. Include in your answer one way in which human activity has an impact on the nutrient cycle you have chosen.
Energy transferred from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem is measured in calories, numbers, and in biomass. If a rangeland has a biomass of 100, 000g/m2 from the grass, how much biomass will be available in human beings who eat the cow that eat that grass?
A class is studying the tropic levels of an ecosystem. The pyramid of biomass shown is a model of these trophic levels. Which of the following is the best explanation of the available energy at each of the trophic levels in this ecosystem ? ANSWER CHOICES ARE IN THE PHOTO. thanks.
Knowledge Booster
Background pattern image
Biology
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, biology and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Similar questions
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
Text book image
Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)
Biology
ISBN:9780134580999
Author:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn
Publisher:PEARSON
Text book image
Biology 2e
Biology
ISBN:9781947172517
Author:Matthew Douglas, Jung Choi, Mary Ann Clark
Publisher:OpenStax
Text book image
Anatomy & Physiology
Biology
ISBN:9781259398629
Author:McKinley, Michael P., O'loughlin, Valerie Dean, Bidle, Theresa Stouter
Publisher:Mcgraw Hill Education,
Text book image
Molecular Biology of the Cell (Sixth Edition)
Biology
ISBN:9780815344322
Author:Bruce Alberts, Alexander D. Johnson, Julian Lewis, David Morgan, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter
Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company
Text book image
Laboratory Manual For Human Anatomy & Physiology
Biology
ISBN:9781260159363
Author:Martin, Terry R., Prentice-craver, Cynthia
Publisher:McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.
Text book image
Inquiry Into Life (16th Edition)
Biology
ISBN:9781260231700
Author:Sylvia S. Mader, Michael Windelspecht
Publisher:McGraw Hill Education
Energy flow in ecosystem; Author: MooMooMath and Science;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jBV9vJmXZI;License: Standard youtube license