首页
登录
职称英语
"Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers"P1 Organisms that ar
"Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers"P1 Organisms that ar
游客
2024-01-03
27
管理
问题
"Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers"
P1 Organisms that are capable of using carbon dioxide as their sole source of carbon are called autotrophs (self-feeders), or producers. These are the plants. They chemically fix carbon through photosynthesis. Organisms that depend on producers as their carbon source are called heterotrophs (feed on others), or consumers. Generally, these are animals. From the producers, which manufacture their own food, energy flows through the system along a circuit called the food chain, reaching consumers and eventually detritivores. Organisms that share the same basic foods are said to be at the same trophic level. Ecosystems generally are structured in a food web, a complex network of interconnected food chains. In a food web, consumers participate in several different food chains, comprising both strong interactions and weak interactions between species in the food web.
P2 Primary consumers feed on producers. A Because producers are always plants, the primary consumer is called an herbivore, or plant eater. A carnivore is a secondary consumer and primarily eats meat. B A consumer that feeds on both producers (plants) and consumers (meat) is called an omnivore. C
P3 Detritivores (detritus feeders and decomposers) are the final link in the endless chain. D Detritivores renew the entire system by releasing simple inorganic compounds and nutrients with the breaking down of organic materials. Detritus refers to all the dead organic debris—remains, fallen leaves, and wastes—that living processes leave. Detritus feeders—worms, mites, termites, centipedes, snails, crabs, and even vultures, among others—work like an army to consume detritus and excrete nutrients that fuel an ecosystem. Decomposers are primarily bacteria and fungi that digest organic debris outside their bodies and absorb and release nutrients in the process. This metabolic work of microbial decomposers produces the rotting that breaks down detritus. Detritus feeders and decomposers, although different in operation, have a similar function in an ecosystem.
P4 An example of a complex community is the oceanic food web that includes krill, a primary consumer. Krill is a shrimplike crustacean that is a major food for an interrelated group of organisms, including whales, fish, seabirds, seals, and squid in the Antarctic region. All of these organisms participate in numerous other food chains as well, some consuming and some being consumed.
Phytoplankton
begin this chain by harvesting solar energy in photosynthesis. Herbivorous zoo-plankton such as krill and other organisms eat Phytoplankton. Consumers eat krill at the next
trophic level
. Because krill are a protein-rich, plentiful food, increasingly factory ships, such as those from Japan and Russia, seek them out. The annual krill harvest currently surpasses a million tons, principally as feed for chickens and livestock and as protein for human consumption.
Efficiency in a Food Web
P5 Any assessment of world food resources depends on the level of consumer being targeted. Let us use humans as an example. Many people can be fed if wheat is eaten directly. However, if the grain is first fed to cattle (herbivores) and then we eat the beef, the yield of available food energy is cut by 90% (810 kg of grain is reduced to 82 kg of meat); far fewer people can be fed from the same land area.
P6 In terms of energy, only about 10% of the kilocalories (food calories, not heat calories) in plant matter survive from the primary to the secondary trophic level. When humans consume meat instead of grain, there is a further loss of biomass and added inefficiency. More energy is lost to the environment at each progressive step in the food chain. You can see that an omnivorous diet such as that of an average North American and European is quite expensive in terms of biomass and energy.
P7 Food web concepts are becoming politicized as world food issues grow more critical. Today, approximately half of the cultivated acreage in the United States and Canada is planted for animal consumption—beef and dairy cattle, hogs, chickens, and turkeys. Livestock feed includes approximately 80% of the annual corn and nonexported soybean harvest. In addition, some lands cleared of rain forest in Central and South America were converted to pasture to produce beef for export to restaurants, stores, and fast-food outlets in developed countries. Thus, lifestyle decisions and dietary patterns in North America and Europe are perpetuating inefficient food webs, not to mention the destruction of valuable resources, both here and overseas.
Glossary
phytoplankton: a plant that lives in the sea and produces its own energy source
trophic level: category measured in steps away from the energy input in an ecosystem [br] It may be concluded that human beings are omnivores because
选项
A、people feed on producers for the most part
B、people are usually tertiary consumers
C、people generally eat both producers and consumers
D、most people are the top carnivores in the food chain
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3329653.html
相关试题推荐
(Fossil)recordssupporttheassumption(which)microorganisms(were)thefirst
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
"Producers,Consumers,andDecomposers"P1Organismsthatar
随机试题
PASSAGEFOUR[br]What’sthetopicsentenceofParagraph1?Whatalot.ofcommot
A.exploreB.distinctC.artisticD.inaccessibleE.subjectiveF.high
关于钢筋混凝土结构楼板、次梁与主梁上层钢筋交叉处钢筋安装的通常做法,正确的是(
A.崭氏反应 B.变态反应 C.钩体败血症 D.钓体对组织器官的直接损害
A.白虎汤 B.王氏连朴饮 C.调胃承气汤 D.枳实导滞汤 E.三仁汤阳
对于固定资产贷款项下借款人单笔支付金额超过项目总投资5%或超过500万元人民币的
维也纳古典乐派的三个代表人物是()A.巴赫、海顿、贝多芬 B.海顿、贝多
简述现代企业人力资源管理各个历史发展阶段的特点。
(2017年真题)企业发生的下列行为中,需要缴纳增值税的是( )。A.获得保险
直接承受动力荷载的钢筋混凝土结构构件,其纵向钢筋连接应优先采用( )A.闪光对焊
最新回复
(
0
)