Name: energy transfer as biomass efficiency
Uploaded: 2025-10-23T11:48:55.000Z
Duration: 1 min 1 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

Pennsylvania State Academic Standards

9-12

Life Science

interdependent-relationships-in-ecosystems

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

3.1.9-12.I

Production Efficiency

- [Verteller] De efficiëntie waarmee organismen ontvangen energie opnemen in biomassa voor het volgende trofische niveau wordt netto productie-efficiëntie of NPE genoemd. Energie kan verloren gaan tijdens metabolische processen zoals ademhaling en vertering als afval. En ook als niet geconsumeerde biomassa.

Bijvoorbeeld, als een vos maar een deel van een konijn eet en energierijke hulpbronnen onbenut blijven. Ectotherme dieren zoals reptielen verbruiken minder energie voor metabole activiteiten, met name ademhaling en behoud van de lichaamstemperatuur en hebben daarom een NPE die ongeveer 10 keer hoger is dan endothermen, zoogdieren of vogels, die meer warmte moeten genereren om metabole processen te handhaven. In het geval van de vos en de slang betekent de discrepantie in NPE dat de vos 10 keer zoveel konijn moet consumeren als de slang om dezelfde hoeveelheid energie te ontvangen voor het bouwen van biomassa.

productie efficiëntie

De nettoproductie-efficiëntie (NPE) is de efficiëntie waarmee organismen energie assimileren in biomassa voor het volgende trofische niveau. Vanwege de lage stofwisselingssnelheden en minder energie die wordt besteed aan thermoregulerende processen, is de NPE van ectothermen (koudbloedige dieren) 10 keer hoger dan die van endothermen (warmbloedige dieren).

<h4>Netto productie-efficiëntie</h4>

Energie stroomt door ecosystemen, van het ene organisme naar het andere. Alleen de energie die in een organisme als biomassa is opgeslagen, is echter beschikbaar als voedsel voor het volgende trofische niveau. De rest van de energie gaat in de loop van de tijd verloren als warmte als bijproduct van metabolische processen en uitgescheiden afval. De efficiëntie waarmee organismen deze bruikbare energie in biomassa assimileren, wordt netto productie-efficiëntie (NPE) genoemd, of het percentage energie dat is opgeslagen in biomassa en dat niet wordt gebruikt voor ademhaling. Uit een onderzoek naar een woestijn-ecosysteem bleek bijvoorbeeld dat slechts 0,016% van de door primaire producenten geproduceerde energie vervolgens werd geassimileerd in weefsel van kleine herbivoorzoogdieren en beschikbaar was voor carnivoren in dit systeem.

<h4>Endotherm versus Ectotherm</h4>

Endothermen zoals vogels en zoogdieren hebben doorgaans een lage productie-efficiëntie vanwege de grotere hoeveelheden energie die worden besteed aan het handhaven van constante hoge lichaamstemperaturen en hoge stofwisselingssnelheden. Aan de andere kant is de NPE voor ectothermen een orde van grootte hoger vanwege hun lagere stofwisselingssnelheden en thermoregulerend gedrag. Daarom moet een zoogdier meer energie verbruiken om dezelfde hoeveelheid biomassa te assimileren als een reptiel

Productie efficiëntie

Net production efficiency (NPE) is the efficiency at which organisms assimilate energy into biomass for the next trophic level. Due to low metabolic rates ...

Education

JoVE Core

Biology

Biologie

Ecology

Ecologie

Ecosystems

Ecosystemen

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

BELANGRIJKE TERMEN EN CONCEPTEN

energy transfer as biomass efficiency

Net production efficiency shows how much energy organisms turn into biomass for the next trophic level. It focuses on the usable energy stored in body tissue, not the energy lost as heat or excreted wastes. This makes it a key idea for understanding energy flow through ecosystems.

As energy moves from one organism to the next, only biomass can serve as food for the next trophic level. The rest of the energy is used in metabolism and is lost over time. Net production efficiency, or NPE, is the percentage of stored biomass energy that is not used for respiration.

NPE is often much higher in ectotherms, or cold-blooded animals, than in endotherms, or warm-blooded animals. Ectotherms have lower metabolic rates and spend less energy on thermoregulation, so their NPE can be about 10 times higher. Endotherms like birds and mammals usually have lower production efficiencies because they use more energy to keep body temperature constant.

A desert scrub ecosystem gives one clear example of this energy loss. In that system, only 0.016% of the energy made by primary producers was later built into small herbivore mammal tissue and available to carnivores. Because mammals need more energy to store the same amount of biomass than reptiles do, a mammal must eat more to match the biomass a reptile could produce.

Energy Transfer as Biomass Efficiency

what is an ecosystem?

Ecosystem Zones and Climate

Ecosystems are shaped by living and nonliving parts of an environment, and they can be grouped as terrestrial or aquatic. Terrestrial ecosystems depend on climate. Aquatic ecosystems are divided into freshwater and marine systems, and depth affects water temperature and how much sunlight reaches the water. Terrestrial ecosystems are called biomes. A biome is defined by climate and by the organisms that live there. Near the equator, rainforests have high, aseasonal temperatures and high annual...

trophic levels

Food Chains and Energy Flow

Food chains show how energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem. Each organism holds a trophic level, or a specific place in that chain. The lowest level includes primary producers, which make their own food using energy from the sun or from chemicals. Organisms at the next levels are heterotrophs, which get energy from other organisms below them. Primary consumers are herbivores, and they feed on autotrophs, also called primary producers. Secondary and tertiary consumers are carnivores...

primary production

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Gross primary production and net primary production describe how energy enters and moves through ecosystems. Primary producers, or autotrophs, make their own food. They can do this by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, and they can also gain energy by consuming other organisms. The rate at which producers capture and store this energy is called gross primary production, or GPP. Not all of the energy in GPP stays available to the rest of the ecosystem. Primary producers use some energy for...

production efficiency

Net production efficiency shows how much energy organisms turn into biomass for the next trophic level. It focuses on the usable energy stored in body tissue, not the energy lost as heat or excreted wastes. This makes it a key idea for understanding energy flow through ecosystems. As energy moves from one organism to the next, only biomass can serve as food for the next trophic level. The rest of the energy is used in metabolism and is lost over time. Net production efficiency, or NPE, is the...

trophic efficiency

Energy Loss in Food Chains

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what are biogeochemical cycles?

Nutrient Recycling in Ecosystems

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the water cycle

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the carbon cycle

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the nitrogen cycle

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the phosphorus cycle

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Phosphorus moves through ecosystems mostly as phosphate ions in soil, water, sediment, and rocks. Unlike carbon, water, and nitrogen, it is not found in the atmosphere as a gas. It is also often a limiting nutrient, which means it is in short supply in many environments. Phosphorus is important in DNA, cell membranes, bones, and teeth. It is found in minerals, sediment, volcanic ash, and aerosols. As rocks and sediment weather over time, they release inorganic phosphate. That phosphate then...

the sulfur cycle

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Sulfur moves through ecosystems as part of the chemical cycle that supports life. It is an important element in proteins and in amino acids such as cysteine, which helps give proteins their structure. On land, sulfur reaches ecosystems in several ways. Weak sulfuric acid can fall with precipitation, sulfur can drop directly from the atmosphere, rocks can weather and release sulfur, and geothermal vents can add it as well. Plants and microorganisms take sulfur up from the soil and change it...

bioremediation

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key terms and concepts

Learn how net production efficiency tracks energy stored as biomass, why ectotherms are more efficient than endotherms, and how energy moves up trophic levels.

Energy Transfer as Biomass Efficiency | JoVE K12

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biology

matter-and-energy-in-organisms-and-ecosystems

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

3.1.9-12.F

3.1.9-12.H

Louisiana Student Standards for Science

High School

Life Sciences

from-molecules-to-organisms-structures-and-processes

From Molecules To Organisms: Structures And Processes

HS-LS1-7

ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy And Dynamics

HS-LS2-1

Environmental Science

HS-LS2-4

Tennessee Academic Standards

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

BIO1.LS2.4

Virginia  Standards of Learning

HIgh School

BIO.8

BIO.8.b

LS.5

LS.5.b

new-jersey-student-learning-standards-for-science

New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science

Arizona Science Standards

HS.L2

HS.L2U1.19

Alabama Course of Study Science

Ecosystems: Interactions Energy and Dynamics

9-12.B.2.6

9-12.EVS.1.1

Next Generation Science Standards

Florida Department of Education

SC.912.L.17

SC.912.L.17.9

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

BIO.13

BIO.13.B

Georgia Standards of Excellence

Botany

SBO6.

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B-LS2-1.

B-LS2-2.

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SEV1.d

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HS-LS2-3.

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SO3.

SO3.2

SEC4.

SEC4.d

SB5.b

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3.1.9-12.N

Energy Transfer as Biomass Efficiency

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