Measuring Ecosystem Biomass
Chapter 37: Ecosystem Dynamics

Scientists carefully measured the mass of the organisms in a bog ecosystem in Florida. They divided the organisms by trophic level to find the mass contained in each level. Their results are shown in the table. Use the table to answer the following questions.

Bog Biomass

Trophic Level	Mass (g/m2)
1	809.0
2	37.0
3	11.0
4	1.5

Analyze the Table

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1. What is the mass of the producers in a typical square meter of the bog?
2. How much more mass is in the first trophic level than in the second trophic level?
3. If the bog occupies an area of 1200 square meters, what is the mass of all the second-level consumers in the entire bog?
4. Record the values in the table on a bar graph. Then stack the bars on their sides and center them to make a pyramid shape. How would you describe this particular pyramid?

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