NEETBotanyEcosystem
What should be included in the calculations of energy content, biomass or numbers?
Options
- AOnly a few individuals at any trophic level
- BAll organisms at that trophic level
- COnly the producers
- DOnly the consumers
Correct answer
B. All organisms at that trophic level
Step-by-step solution
Any calculations of energy content, biomass or numbers must include all organisms at that trophic level. No generalisations we make will be true if we take only a few individuals at any trophic level into account. Also a given organism may occupy more than one trophic level simultaneously. One must remember that the trophic level represents a functional level, not a species as such. A given species may occupy more than one trophic level in the same ecosystem at the same time; for example, a sparrow is a primary con