AP Biology yy Lab: Energy Dynamics in an Ecosystem BACKGROUND Almost all life on this planet is powered, either directly or indirectly, by sunlight. Energy captured from sunlight drives the production of energy-rich organic compounds during the process of photosynthesis. These organic compounds are the biomass of the ecosystem. The biomass is ‘equivalent to the net primary productivity, which is the net amount of energy captured and stored by the producers, This is also the amount of energy available to the next trophic level. The net primary productivity is derived from the gross primary productivity, which is a measure of the total amount of light energy that was captured and converted into chemical energy (organic compounds) during Photosynthesis. To obtain the net productivity you must subtract all the energy that was used in cellular respiration and ultimately released as heat, from the gross productivity. In terrestrial systems, plants play the role of producers. Plants allocate that biomass (energy) to power their life processes or to store energy. Different plants have different strategies of energy allocation that reflect their role in various ecosystems, For example, annual weedy plants allocate a larger percentage of their biomass production to reproductive processes and seeds than do slower growing perennials, As plants, the producers are consumed or decomposed, and their stored chemical energy powers additional individuals, the consumers, or trophic levels of the biotic community. Biotic systems run on energy much as economic systems run on money. Energy is generally in limited supply in most communities. Energy dynamics in a biotic community is fundamental to understanding ecological interactions. Learning Objectives + To explain community/ecosystem energy dynamics, including energy transfer between the difference trophic levels. + To calculate biomass, net primary productivity (NPP), secondary productivity, and respiration, using a model consisting of brussels sprouts and butterfly larvae. There are two parts to this lab: Part 1, You will estimate the net primary productivity (NPP) of Wisconsin Fast Plants over several weeks Part 2, You will calculate the flow of energy from plants (producers) to butterfly larvae (primary consumers). These calculations will include an estimate of (a) secondary productivity, which would be the amount of biomass added to the larvae and therefore available to the next trophic level, and (b) the amount of energy lost to cellular respirationPART 1: Estimating Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of Fast Plants Primary productivity is a rate—energy captured by photosynthetic organisms in a given area per unit of time. Based on the second law of thermodynamics, when energy is converted from one form to another, some energy will be lost as heat. When light energy is converted to chemical energy in photosynthesis or transferred from one organism (a plant or producer) to its consumer (e.g., an herbivorous insect), some energy will be lost as heat during each transfer. In terrestrial ecosystems, productivity (or energy capture) is generally estimated by the change in biomass of plants produced over a specific time period. Measuring biomass or changes in biomass is relatively straightforward: simply mass the organism(s) on an appropriate balance and record the mass ‘over various time intervals. The complicating factor is that a large percentage of the mass of a living organism is water—not the energy-rich organic compounds of biomass, Therefore, to determine the biomass at a particular point in time accurately, you must dry the organism. Obviously, this creates a problem if you wish to take multiple measurements on the same living organism. Another issue is that different organic compounds store different amounts of energy, in proteins and carbohydrates it is about 4 keal/g dry weight and in fats itis 9 keal/g of dry weight), Define the following terms, and then fill in the diagram below showing energy transfer in plants. Use the word “biomass” where necessary. + gross primary productivity -_ Al) of-e Oraane malerial prduud Pk - all light PNM, Conard to chemitul ere. , Recall =10% Passedto mext Theteel. + net primary productivity - Am} gf \romass pradwid mous thal used tn C/p. — Pirnt availabe tp |°consumers - Net a secondary productivity - Amt of bomass producad ba primey Consumer = Ue mb ot grivdis aNbailaDhe to 2° i Review the energy transfer in plants by filling in the arrows below: ugh . Ams wy¥d by plantsm C/p AQ PD. Gross Productivity 2 Pont avelabl 40 (rsuness (iet Prmoy 6 in Plants > Poach) aoe Ara 45 uagle $0 Recompenes Review the energy transfer in primary consumers (butterflies) by filling in the arrows below: Amal used me one AS) oe 2 Kiel 2® ? Energy Processed 4 DWeongumers (Net 2' eae by Buttely lana, Anns ouaslabte to Pemsners (UOT pus) § ab pmtas wask (Crass) weet bey coy, ipoProcedure (For each section, you need to show ALL CALCULATIONS on the lines or spaces provided) Step 1: . ms ‘A student started 40 Wisconsin Fast v3 ows Plants and grew them for 7 days under niecor : a controlled conditions in a plant tray b “ Step 2: 4 On day 7, she randomly selected 10 of the plants and removed them with their roots intact from the soil. She carefully washed the soil from the roots and then blotted the roots dry and measured the wet mass of the 10 plants collectively. Wisconsin Fast Plant Growth ‘Wet Mass of 10 Plants (Day 7) =f: 6g) Step 3: She then took the 10 plants and placed them in a ceramic dyfing bowl and placed them in a drying oven at 200°C for 24 hours. After/24 hours, she measured the mass of the dry plants. / 1 Dry Mass 10 Plants (Day 7) E 4. 28 ) Step 4: Use the following equation to calculate percent biom4ss: % biomass = mass of dry plants x 100 mass of wet plants Be VE Moe aye Calculate the percent biomass of the## plants. Calculate sh percent bioms ant.Note how much of the plant’s total mass is actually biomass (organic compounds), and how much is made up of water. Each gram of a Fast Plant’s dry biomass is equivalent to 4.35 kcal of energy. Note: throughout this lab, the energy equivalents of biomass in kcal (plant or animal) were obtained in a laboratory using a calorimeter that measures the amount of energy per gram of organism. To calculate the amount of energy (in kcal) in the plants, multiply 4.35 kcal/g x the dried biomass (from previous page). ABS Kena, x 425 = « Calculate the amount of energy (in kcal) in 10 plants that are 7 days old, 18.27 Leal /10 plam's I6-27/o= + Calculate the average amount of energy in I plant that is 7 days old. LB3keal Ipian! Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is the amount of energy stored (added) as biomass per day by autotrophs in an ecosystem and is expressed in units of kealday. In this section, you will be calculating the NPP per plant per day. Organize your data from the previous page in the following table’ 3) D : Net pri (oP | P| 9 Nema, |eeEane |pemat Agein | Wet Mass/10 | Dry massi0 | Percent 44.38 Reaper 10 | 4:33 healer | Pang PY days | plants plants biomass plants) plant) : 1.89 Bl idee 42. 24 | 18.27 Meal | BZA Kea) Fins ated ‘Note: To adjust the data to “per day, in the last column divide by 7 because the plants are 7 days old. Step 5: On day 14, she again randomly selected 10 plants and removed them with their roots intact from the ‘After cleaning the soil off the roots, she obtained the wet mass and dry mass of the plants, ee eee ya Wet Mass 10 Plants (Day 14) =G84g TH Teams 6° Dry Mass 10 Plants (Day 14) (938 car mG sf a = eB 10 ‘Again, organize youf data from the rrp pe in the following table: p 8.3 X00 : Net pri 4 Gino: |(geomnx | Poche Age in | Wet Mass/10_ | Dry mass/10__| Percent 435 kcal per 10 | 435 Kea per | Ber gay Per days. | plants plams biomass/}(5 | plants) plant) Ls 7 ey “TT apy | 435 | 2429 | 0M] 85:1 Fe zereeh! Note: To adjust the data to “per day,” in the last column divide by T4 because the planis are 14 days oldStep 6: On day 21, she again randomly selected 10 plants and removed them with their roots intact from the soil, After cleaning the soil off the roots, she obtained the wet mass and dry mass of the plants. Wet Mass 10 Plants (Day 21) Dry Mass 10 Plants (Day 21) Again, organize your data in the following table: ss fea [Sepa Getionssx |gbiomassx Produits agin| werissi0 fogmasio fromm | Ssstatrno |Spr | A se face? [Rae ies so [pn "| 5526 [1554 | 28.19 | Grblend | Gabon! [ar73ai beh! Note: To adjust the data to “per day, "in the last column divide by 21 because the plants are 21 days oi, < Conmutng to PeStep 7: The NPP data for a sample class with 7 groups is shown in the table below. The data for Group | has been left out. You are to fill in your data as Group 1. Net Class Data: Net Primary Productivity — Wisconsin Fast Plants 1G “Peanites! 5 Average Proach time | Group | croup ] croup | Group | croup’ | Group | Grou | Avera® ay | OT 3 3 A 3 6 eal a_| 26 | oas | oss | oz | ors | 027 | ore [A [200 uw | +4] oa | ox [ a3 | om | 030 | om | 203/2 | 2? a_| 134] oa: | ox | on | om | os | om [2% | 34 Al 3) ete N! & 6 10 ls Step 8: Tie mm DAUD Data Analysis + Graph the Class Average (mean) NPP vs. Time. ¢ (as the plants grow and mature)? use plants und wi Ge He numbers 4 womeh tan be uted 4% lawl, + Why does the NPP increase over ti NPP/ plant mw wetabolit oro CNS and al prodact rar, fer he pers dy Mer dwrophyll, mae sugars.PART 2: Estimating Energy Transfer from Producers to Primary Consumers In this experiment, you will be using a simple two-step food chain using Brussels Sprouts as the producers, and cabbage butterflies as the primary consumers. e 1 Burterly Life Cycle Review the energy transfer in primary consumers (butterflies) by filling in the arrows below: 2 if 5 hr ? Energy Processed ? 0 by Butterfly Larvac 7 In this part of the lab you will be using Brussels Sprouts as your producers, and cabbage butterfly larvae as your primary consumers. Refer to the diagram above, and on a separate piece of paper discuss with your group how you would go about calculating the secondary productivity (in keal) and the amount of energy (in kcal) lost to cellular respiration, In order to calculate plant, larvae, and frass energy in kilocalories (keal), you must multiply by known values measured in kilocalories for these organisms. Example: to calculate plant energy, you multiple the biomass by 4.35 kcal/g, for the larvae you multiple biomass by 5.5 keal/g, and for the frass you multiply by 4.75 keal/g. Can you explain why these values differ depending on which organism (or waste material) you are measuring? Plan) mass contams ditlaend Q's oP ocanrt com pumds Compared to cateepllay 4 frass. Differ) organize cpds Contam deren armonnts of enefary | gran. For tyample, terbebugrates co wot Contain tes mach Greryy gram as Fals 20-Step L The student took Brussels Sprouts, which are in the same family (Brassicacae) as Wisconsin Fast Plants and placed them in an aerated container with air holes along with 10 caterpillar larvae that were 12 days old. (Figure 4) Before assembling the container, the wet massiof the Brussels Sprouts and wet mass of the caterpillars was taken. Wet Mass Brussels Sprouis = 30g Wet Mass of 10 Larvae = 0.3 Figure & Bassi Ba Step 2: fier 3 days, she disassembled the container and took the mass of the components indicated below. At this point the caterpillar larvae were 15 days old ‘Wet Mass Brussels Sprouts = 11g ‘Wet Mass 10 Larvae = 1.8g Step 3 She then used a drying oven to obtain the dry biomass of the 10 caterpillar larvae, the remaining Brussels Sprouts, and the dried frass. Dry Mass Brussels Sprouts = 2.28 Dry Mass 10 Caterpillar Larvae = 0.278 Mass of Frass (Dry Egested Waste) from 10 Larvae = 0.5Tables of Energy/Biomass Flow from Plants to Butterfly Larvae You will be using the percent biomass of both plans and larvae to calculate the energy lost by plans or gained larvae in the following calculations. In part 1 of the lab the dried biomass was used to calculate net primary productivity. In part 2 of the lab you are using percent biomass because you cannot directly calculate the biomass for the Brussels Sprouts or larvae on day 1 Why? Answer on pg. 10 ‘Table 1: Brussels Sprouts iis volt &assued Hobe te same 05 He biomass On doh 3. ( Day 4 Day 3 (on=) ‘Wet mass of Brussels Sprouts At BOq | the | omscoreumes le Plant percent biomass (dryiwet) 2°2/1) 20% | 80% te caleulaled Leer mesans Plant energy (wet mass x percent biomass x 4.35 kcal) cals consumed Sow yak 4.35 R01 |95q |pertoiavae 1653 kealV/iplarme Plant energy consumed per larvae (plant energy/10) Df Saacray/Pikcals consumed ty PS Kal iqrioe ‘Table 2: Butterfly Larvae —Assianed + be te Sane as % bromexSandory S Day1 | Days ‘Wel mass of 10 larvae [ > | 1ge, [omesanes LS, \ Wet mass per individual \ ams gained 03 | \Q — |perianae “154 Laas percent biomass ive -A7/ Ts |e polenta Energy production per individual ‘eais gained {(ndividual wet mass x percent biomass x 5.5 kcallig 025 | ASO | periarvee 11 Beal /fpquee (03a 184 JE YES / Table 3: Frass Day 3 Dry mass of the frass from 10 larvae % Note tat: Frass energy waste) =frassmassx475KC9 cxyze | 24venl !3.= orpor78 ts Diy mass of the frass from 1 larva 24 “2 eed | (OS Trans leroed from ‘Table 4: Respiration Dap Teed to next tear bicattyy should be Respiration (show calculation) Consumed We Rew) pays | 0%) gama lanne — 13 dtrass ~ 134 hesleg) 1:26 amt los} mC/2In part 1 of the lab the dried biomass was used to calculate net primary productivity. In part 2 of the lab you are using percent biomass because you cannot directly calculate the biomass for the Brussels Sprouts or larvae on day 1. Why? Tocalculak He percent biomass, you must dry He plants and _drutde_by We wed mass. This world destron he spronts and the larvae wanld not edortrem. Instead uk used te % bromss Caleulaled afler Bdayp and usec thad for He percent an day |. le also dvd Anis Lar He pecond bo mess for taderpillar laruot on daxy ).