Knowing what you do about food chains and the flow of energy through an ecosystem,why are there less lions than gazelles on the African plains?
Hmmm! This question asks YOU to synthesize what YOU've learned about food chains and then draw a conclusion. We'll be happy to critique your answer if you post it here.
In an ecosystem, energy flows through a food chain, starting from the producers (plants) and moving up to the consumers (herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores). According to the concept of the 10% rule, only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level.
In the context of the African plains, the primary producers consist of grasses and other vegetation. Gazelles are herbivores that graze on these plants, obtaining energy from them. Lions, on the other hand, are carnivores that prey on herbivores like gazelles, obtaining their energy from consuming them.
Because of the 10% rule, only a small proportion of the energy acquired by gazelles from the plants is transferred to lions when they consume them. This is due to the loss of energy through metabolic processes, as well as the energy expended by gazelles for activities like growth, reproduction, and movement. Consequently, there needs to be a larger population of prey (gazelles) to sustain a smaller population of predators (lions).
Another factor to consider is the population dynamics of lions and gazelles. Gazelles typically reproduce at a higher rate compared to lions, meaning that their population can increase more rapidly. In contrast, lions have a slower reproductive rate and tend to have fewer offspring in each reproductive cycle. This further contributes to the larger population of gazelles compared to lions.
In summary, the imbalance in the population of lions and gazelles on the African plains is primarily due to the flow of energy through the food chain and the reproductive dynamics of these species. The 10% rule suggests that only a small fraction of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, resulting in a need for a larger population of prey (gazelles) to sustain a smaller population of predators (lions).