Question

suppose a hawk eats a snake that eats a field mouse that ate seeds and leaves. if the owl got 250kcal from the snake,

A. what was likely net primary productivity of the producer(s) that gave the hawk that 250kcal of energy?

B. what was likely the gross primary productivity of the producers?

Answer 1

The food chain is given by the following equation.
Hawk ---> Snake ---> Mouse ---> Seeds and leaves

Only 10% of the enrgy is transmitted from one trophic level to the next.

Net primary productivity = The amount of energy available for primary consumers
Gross primary productivity = The amount of energy fixed by producers

Hawk ---> Snake ---> Mouse ---> Seeds and leaves

Snake ---> Hawk = 250 kcal
Mouse ---> Snake = 2500 kcal
Producers ---> Mouse = 25000 kcal
i.e. Net primary productivity = 25000 kcal

Gross primary productivity = 250000 kcal