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#Odum's model

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

Ecosystem Efficiency and Decomposition

Which component represents energy stored in Odum's model?

In simplified versions of Odum’s universal energy-flow model, S denotes energy stored as biomass or accumulated organic matter. Incoming assimilated energy is partitioned among respiration, production, storage, and exported or unassimilated pathways. Storage is a stock measured at a time, whereas production and respiration are rates over time. Recognizing that distinction prevents confusing standing biomass with productivity: a system may have a large S because biomass persists even when its current production rate is modest. Mass loss alone cannot identify mechanism, because leaching, fragmen

Ref: Fundamentals of Ecology, Odum & Barrett, 5th Ed., Ch. 3

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Ecosystem Efficiency and Decomposition

In Odum's model, the energy used to build new tissue is:

“P” for in odum's model, the energy used to build new tissue is. This relationship follows from the ecological mechanism represented by the terms in the item, not merely from an association between their names. Ecosystem processes are constrained by energy conservation and by the cycling of matter. Energy enters mainly through primary production, is lost as metabolic heat at every transfer, and therefore cannot be recycled in the way that carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, or water can. The remaining alternatives—“R”, “A”, “I”—refer to different states, processes, or scales and therefore do not exp

Ref: Fundamentals of Ecology, Odum & Barrett, 5th Ed., Ch. 3

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