Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (MindTap Course List)
15th Edition
ISBN: 9781337408332
Author: Cecie Starr, Ralph Taggart, Christine Evers, Lisa Starr
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Chapter 6, Problem 3DAA
Energy Efficiency of Biofuel Production Most of the plant material currently used for biofuel production consists of food crops—mainly corn, soybeans, and sugarcane. In 2006, David Tilman and his colleagues published the results of a 10-year study comparing the net energy output of various biofuels. The researchers grew a mixture of native perennial grasses without irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides, in sandy soil that was so depleted by intensive agriculture that it had been abandoned. They measured the usable energy in biofuels made from the grasses, and also from com and soy, then measured the energy it look to grow and produce biofuel from each kind of crop (Figure 6.1).
FIGURE 6.1 Energy input and output of biofuels made from three different crops. One hectare is about 2.5 acres.
Which of the three crops would require the least amount of land to produce a given amount of biofuel energy?
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Kcal/m^2/yr
Efficiency of energy transfer (%)
Sunlight
600 000
n/a
Chemical energy in producers
6 585
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81
Calculate the efficiency of energy transfer by the producers. That is, what percentage of the energy in sunlight was converted into chemical energy and incorporated into plant biomass?
Calculate the efficiency of energy transfer by the primary consumers. What percentage of the energy in plant biomass was incorporated into the bodies of the primary consumers? What became of the rest of the energy?
How much energy is available for secondary consumers? Based on the efficiency of energy transfer by primary consumers, estimate how much energy will be available to tertiary consumers.
Draw a pyramid of production for the producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers for this ecosystem (see example in your textbook).
Chapter 6 Solutions
Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (MindTap Course List)
Ch. 6 - Energy Efficiency of Biofuel Production Most of...Ch. 6 - Energy Efficiency of Biofuel Production Most of...Ch. 6 - Energy Efficiency of Biofuel Production Most of...Ch. 6 - A cat eats a bird, which ate a caterpillar that...Ch. 6 - Prob. 2SQCh. 6 - Most of the carbon dioxide that plants use for...Ch. 6 - Which of the following statements is incorrect? a....Ch. 6 - In cyanobacteria and photosynthetic eukaryotes,...Ch. 6 - When a photosystem absorbs light, _______. a....Ch. 6 - In the light-dependent reactions, _______. a....
Ch. 6 - In the light-dependent reactions, what accumulates...Ch. 6 - The atoms in oxygen molecules released during...Ch. 6 - Prob. 10SQCh. 6 - Prob. 11SQCh. 6 - Which of the following substances does not...Ch. 6 - Closed stomata ________. a. limit gas exchange b....Ch. 6 - In C3 plants, ______ makes sugar production...Ch. 6 - Match each term with the best description. ______...Ch. 6 - Prob. 1CTCh. 6 - While gazing into an aquarium, you see bubbles...Ch. 6 - AC3 plant absorbs a carbon radioisotope (as part...Ch. 6 - In 2005, a new species of green sulfur bacteria...
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