David Flint Honors Bio Flow of Energy a. Why is phytoplankton found at the bottom of each of the 3 pyramids?
Phytoplankton are found at the bottom of the three triangle because they are the smallest things in that food chain. There is nothing that they can eat and they are easy pray for all the other bigger predators. b. What do you think “trophic levels” are?
A tropic level is a rating of how much energy they provide and how much energy they need.
With 1 being the lowest amount c. What is the correlation between trophic level and available energy units? Provide a reasonable explanation for this pattern.
The phytoplankton need the least amount of energy there for they provide the least amount of energy while something like a tuna needs a large amount of energy so it takes a smaller amount of them to reach a certain amount of energy. The patter could be that the phytoplankton are always at the bottom with a thousand but something like tuna is near the top with a small number. d. Which pyramid has the most available energy left at the top? Provide a reasonable explanation for this pattern.
The second level harvesting has the most energy at the top because there are a direct amount of plankton going straight to the fish. These would have the most energy because they aren't competing with other fish to eat the plankton. e. About what percent of energy is available from one trophic level to the next?
It depends on how efficient the fish are at eating all of the smaller fish. The smallest chart is
20% then it just decreases by 5% every time a new predator is added.

a. Where is atmospheric nitrogen’s next move in the cycle?
The nitrogen makes it way, one way or another, back into the soil. b. What do you think nitrogen “fixation”