One hundred vegetarian residents of a farming village raise various crops for their own consumption on a parcel of land. They satisfy all of their food needs from the land. An investor purchases the land, evicts the farmers, and converts the land to pasture. Assuming that the primary productivity of the pasture grass equals that of the crops that were previously grown, how many people might be supported on a diet of beef produced by the ranch? A). more than 100, because beef is a higher quality food source than the crops it replacesB). about 100C). about 50D). at most 10

Question

Cecilia Lee

Biology

7 July, 05:55

One hundred vegetarian residents of a farming village raise various crops for their own consumption on a parcel of land. They satisfy all of their food needs from the land. An investor purchases the land, evicts the farmers, and converts the land to pasture. Assuming that the primary productivity of the pasture grass equals that of the crops that were previously grown, how many people might be supported on a diet of beef produced by the ranch? A). more than 100, because beef is a higher quality food source than the crops it replacesB). about 100C). about 50D). at most 10

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Jaelynn Johnston · Answer 1

Answer: D. at most 10

Explanation:

Using the energy pyramid, the ratio of grassland to primary consumer to secondary consumer is: 100:10:1 respectively.

Thus if the grassland supports 100 cattle (primary consumer), the numbers of humans (secondary consumer) the cattle can feed will be;

100/10 = 10.