Determine the minimum area (m2) of the island ecosystem, providing the daily life of 5 wolves, if the scheme of the trophic chain
Determine the minimum area (m2) of the island ecosystem, providing the daily life of 5 wolves, if the scheme of the trophic chain:
plants (grasses) -e herbivores (ungulates) -> – “predator (wolf);
the daily growth of one wolf is 360 kcal, plants completely cover the island, their daily net production is 90 kcal / m2. (The process of transformation of energy from one trophic level to another proceeds in accordance with Lindemann’s rule.)
Decision
1) Determine the daily growth of 5 wolves:
1 wolf – 360 kcal 5 – x kcal x = 1800 kcal.
2) To obtain such an increase in biomass, wolves (according to Lindemann’s rule) must consume 10 times more of it, i.e. 1800 kcal • 10 = 18 000 kcal, and ungulates – 10 times more than wolves, i.e. . 180,000 kcal.
3) Let us calculate the area from which ungulates receive the phytomass necessary for nutrition, taking into account that the daily net production of plants is 90 kcal / m2:
180,000: 90 = 2000 (m2).
Answer: 2000 m
