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Energy Dynamics
Big Idea 4: Interactions
What factors govern energy capture, allocation, storage, and transfer between
producers and consumers in a terrestrial ecosystem?
BACKGROUND
Everything that lives needs energy. Energy is converted and lost as heat as it
moves through ecosystems, and new energy is continually added to the earth in the
form of solar radiation. Autotrophs convert the suns energy, usually through the
process of photosynthesis, into organic compounds that store energy. Autotrophs
are the primary producers and their production of new organic compounds (sugars)
or biomass is referred to as primary production. The primary producers are either
decomposed or consumed and their stored energy powers consumers and the higher
trophic levels of the biotic community.
The organic energy-rich compounds (sugars) create biomass. The total amount
of CO2 that is fixed by the plant in photosynthesis is the gross primary productivity
(GPP). The net primary productivity (NPP) is the net amount of primary production
after the costs of plant respiration (R) are included or NPP = GPP R.
How do you measure primary production? There are two systems for
measuring primary production either by the rate of photosynthesis or the rate of
increase in plant biomass.
Rate of Photosynthesis: From the basic equation for photosynthesis, we
know that six CO2 molecules are used for every six O2 and one sugar molecule
produced. By placing plants in a closed system, we can either measure the
depletion of CO2 per unit time, or the generation of O2, to get a direct measure
of primary production. The NPP would be related to the GPP minus the O2
used up during respiration.
Rate of Biomass Accumulation: To determine the primary production of a
crop some seeds are planted. At the end of one year samples of the entire plants
including the roots that were contained in one square meter are harvested.
The samples are dried to remove any variation in water content, and then
weighed to get the dry weight. Thus, the measure of primary production
would be grams/m2/yr of crop including stems, leaves, roots, flowers, and fruits
but minus the mass of any vegetation that may have blown away or otherwise
lost. What has been measured? It isn't GPP because some of the energy
produced by photosynthesis went to meet the metabolic needs of the plants
themselves or was lost to insects and other such things. Is it NPP?
In recent years it has also become possible to estimate GPP and R in large
plants or entire forests using tracers and gas exchange techniques. These
measurements now form the basis of this investigations into how primary
production affects the carbon dioxide content of our atmosphere.
Copyright 2013 Quality Science Labs, LLC
Respiration
Grass
125 g/m2
125 g/m2
(litter)
Herbivores
5 g/m2
60 g/m2
250 g/m2
(roots)
Soil/Decomposers
Predators
1 g/m2
Respiration
336 g/m2
If you calculated 60 g/m2, you are correct. The herbivores receive 125 g/m2
from grass, but lose 5 g/m2 to predators and 60 g/m2 to decomposition and the soil.
What remains is 60 g/m2 of carbon that goes to the atmosphere via respiration.
In this lab you will investigate the use of plant sugars by yeast to power growth,
reproduction, and storage of energy as biomass as it gets passed on through a
food chain. Yeast convert sugar to ethanol and carbon dioxide and release energy
during the process of fermentation. The production of carbon dioxide is used as an
indicator of the amount of energy converted by the yeast. Assuming the ratio of
energy per biomass production is constant, the carbon dioxide is also an indirect
indicator of biomass production. In Lab Investigation 8.1, you will measure the
volume of CO2 produced, calculate the rate of production, and relate it directly to
the amount of energy transferred from the primary producer and indirectly to the
biomass production by the primary consumer the yeast.
As you progress through the pre-labs and the yeast fermentation investigations,
you might also consider the conversion of energy and production of biomass with
your own personal impact on the environment. On what trophic levels do you
predominantly eat?
Lab Investigation 8.1 Part 1 will establish a baseline for inquiry Lab Investigation
8.1 Part 2 on testing the effects of a variable that could possibly increase ethanol
yield and potentially impact the production of biofuels.
Copyright 2013 Quality Science Labs, LLC
PREPARATION
Materials and Equipment are listed with each lab separately.
This Pre-lab does not require lab bench time and could be done in class or after
school. Lab Investigation 8.1 Part 1 for yeast fermentation is designed to establish
a baseline for the rate of production of CO2 and ethanol by yeast with a 15 minute
data collection. The entire lab should take two periods to conduct the lab, collect
data, and analyze and discuss the data. The Lab Investigation 8.1 Part 2 - Student
Guided Inquiry will take two periods.
Use general microbiology practices in working with the yeast by using household
bleach for prepping surfaces before and after labs, mainly to prevent contamination
from other microorganisms.
Pre-lab Questions
What is the Environmental Impact of Eating at a Lower Trophic Level?
"Three hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. The (300) trout
in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers
that live off of 1,000 tons of grass."
-- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist (1971)
The purpose of this activity is to calculate and compare human food needs at
different trophic levels, using the data to construct a biomass pyramid. You will
also analyze the advantages and disadvantages of eating at lower trophic levels on
a global scale.
Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain such as primary
producers, herbivore, primary carnivore. Green plants form the first trophic level,
the producers. Herbivores form the second trophic level, while carnivores form the
third and even the fourth trophic levels. Ecological pyramids are built based on
these trophic levels and can show numbers of organisms, biomass, or energy flow.
Primary
Producers
In this scenario, the owner of a corn farm raises geese for food and insect control.
Geese will eat grasshoppers and other insect pests and ticks (which is a good thing).
They also act as a watchdog by making a lot of noise when intruders approach
their territory. The farmer allows the geese free range in his fields during the day
and provides sheltered roosts for them at night.
For purposes of the following exercises, you may make the following assumptions:
The farmer lives on 1 goose/day for a year;
1 goose eats 250 grasshoppers/day;
1,000 grasshoppers have a mass of 1 Kg;
1 grasshopper requires about 30 g of corn/year;
1 human requires about 600 grasshoppers/day;
Dry corn has about 3.65 cal/g.
Grasshoppers only reproduce to feed the geese or human. (While unrealistic,
this will help illustrate the scenario.)
Exercises
10. List the foods you have eaten over the last 5 days:
2 CO2(gas) + energy
(carbon dioxide)
Fermentation uses yeast to convert the sugars in biomass into ethanol. This is
the same process that has been used for thousands of years to make wine and beer.
Some forms of biomass are made up of simple sugars that can be used directly, like
sugars from sugar cane and sugar beets. Some are made up of starch, which is a
chain of large numbers of sugar molecules that must first be broken down. Starch in
crops such as corn, and woody crops such as trees and grasses fall into this category.
Fermentation, as opposed to cellular respiration, is a way of breaking down
sugar molecules and harvesting chemical energy without using either oxygen or
any electron transport system. Fermentation is an extension of glycolysis (the first
step in cellular respiration) that allows continuous generation of ATP (adenosine
triphosphate). There are two common types of fermentation, differing in the end
products. One is alcohol production, which is typically done by bacteria or yeast.
The second is lactic acid fermentation without the production of CO2, which is
done by certain fungi and bacteria in production of cheese and yogurt; and also
seen in human muscle cells for making lactic acid and ATP when oxygen is scarce.
Measuring the production of CO2 over time is an indicator of the amount of
glucose used by the yeast, thus the amount of energy transferred. Assuming the
ratio of glucose used per biomass production is a constant, CO2 is also an indirect
indicator of biomass production at the primary consumer level.
In this lab investigation, you will measure the volume of CO2 produced, calculate
the rate of production, and relate it directly to the amount of energy transferred
from the primary producer and indirectly to the biomass production by the primary
consumer the yeast.
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Materials:
Yeast packet
Beakers, 50 mL (2) and plastic 150 mL
Graduated cylinder, 10 mL
Corn syrup (dark) 1 mL*
Distilled water*, (It should be about 25-27 C.)
Food coloring (red)*
Syringe, 5 mL
Tall glass jar or water glass* (to hold inverted respirometer)
Serological graduated pipet, 1 mL
Stopwatch
Thermometer
Tape *
*items not included
Preparations:
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Reading
(mL)
Time
(min.)
Reading
(mL)
Time
(min.)
Figure 8.1a
Pipet
Reading
(mL)
Colored
Droplet
Yeast
Syringe
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Data Analysis:
1. Plot the raw data on graph paper and draw a line through the
linear part of the curve. Using only the linear part of the data,
calculate the slope of the line as change in volume over change in
time. This yields the rate of fermentation in units of mL of CO2
per minute.
2. The independent variable (time - min.) is plotted on the x-axis
and the dependent variable (CO2 released - mL) is plotted on
the y-axis. The slope gives you the rate of fermentation and the
production of ethanol.
Discussion
3. What was the primary producer and what was the primary
consumer in this investigation?
4. How does your calculated slope for the rate of CO2 production
during fermentation of yeast and corn syrup equate to biomass
and energy transfer?
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Concentration of salt (how does varying the salt (NaCl) concentration affect
the rate of yeast fermentation?);
Osmolarity [Osmolarity refers to the total concentration of sugars or salts in
the fermentation solution, which affects water flow into or out of the cells.
What is the effect of adding sorbitol (which cannot be utilized by yeast for
fermentation) along with glucose on the rate of fermentation?];
Ethanol concentration (What are the effects of varying the initial ethanol
concentration in the fermentation mixture on yeast fermentation?);
Use the rate or total volume of CO2 production as an indicator of the production
of ethanol.
Procedures:
Step 1:
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Independent variable: (What is the cause agent? What are you changing?)
2.
3.
Lab set-up:
Experimental
Groups
Number of Trials
4.
5.
Hypothesis: (Use an if [Independent Variable], then [Dependent Variable] format.
State the cause and effect relationship between the I.V. and the D.V. It must be testable.)
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6.
7.
Experimental constants: (Name at least six variables NOT altered during the experiment.)
8.
9.
Detailed procedure:
2. How does the trend in your graph compare with the predicted
results from you original experimental plan? Describe any
difference you observe.
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