Practise energy-flow questions by tracing sunlight into producers, following chemical energy through food chains and identifying heat transfer to the environment.
The dominant grass species in an African grassland ecosystem are star grass and red oat grass.
- Star grass is eaten by antelope species, such as topi and Thomson's gazelle.
- Smaller animals such as mice and grasshoppers feed on red oat grass.
- Topi and Thomson's gazelle are eaten by predators such as cheetahs, lions and serval cats.
- Grasshoppers and mice are eaten by serval cats and tawny eagles.
- Vultures feed on dead mammals.
Fig. 1.1 shows part of the food web for this ecosystem.
Fig. 1.1
State the principal source of energy for the food web shown in Fig. 1.1.
State what happens to energy when it leaves a food web.