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8. Salmon can be reared in fish farms where they are sometimes fed small fish such as anchovies - Scottish Highers Biology - Question 8 - 2018
Question 8
8. Salmon can be reared in fish farms where they are sometimes fed small fish such as anchovies. Anchovies feed on animal plankton which feed on plant plankton. The... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:8. Salmon can be reared in fish farms where they are sometimes fed small fish such as anchovies - Scottish Highers Biology - Question 8 - 2018
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(ii) Plant plankton fix 2% of the solar energy they receive in their biomass. Calculate the total solar energy to which the plant plankton were exposed.
Answer
To find the total solar energy to which plant plankton were exposed, we can use the following formula:
Let be the total solar energy and we know that:
[ 0.02E = 500000 ]
Solving for ,
[ E = \frac{500000}{0.02} = 25000000 \ \text{kJ} ]
Therefore, the total solar energy to which the plant plankton were exposed is 25,000,000 kJ.
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(ii) In terms of energy efficiency explain the advantage to the human population of consuming anchovies rather than salmon.
Answer
The energy efficiency of consuming anchovies compared to salmon is beneficial due to less energy loss between trophic levels. Anchovies are lower in the food chain; therefore, more energy from the consumed food is converted into biomass. On the contrary, salmon, being at a higher trophic level, have less energy available for consumption after subtracting energy lost at each level. This means anchovies provide more energy to the human population than salmon.