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Science-Related Homework Help Geography and Earth Sciences Topic started by: howardgiles112 on Jan 22, 2018



Title: Why is it that most top predators (e.g., lions, tigers, bears, and wolves) have extremely large ...
Post by: howardgiles112 on Jan 22, 2018
Why is it that most top predators (e.g., lions, tigers, bears, and wolves) have extremely large territories and are relatively rare?
 
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Title: Why is it that most top predators (e.g., lions, tigers, bears, and wolves) have extremely large ...
Post by: lila2016 on Jan 22, 2018
The second law of thermodynamics, as it applies to ecological pyramids of biomass, means that a substantially higher amount of ecosystem productivity is required to provide sufficient energy for organisms that feed on a third or fourth trophic level. This results in a need for a large ecological territory to provide sufficient autotrophic surface area to convert enough solar energy to provide for the energy required to be passed through three trophic levels. As a result, an ecosystem can only support a very few of these top predators.