Question

Which of the following is most likely true about a community in which the biomass is increasing?a) Net productivity is negative.b) Gross productivity is negative.c) The community is undergoing primary succession.d) There are more primary carnivores than producers.e) Primary productivity exceeds energy needed for respiration.

Answer 1

Biomass is the total mass of living beings in a certain area at a certain moment. It can refer to one species or to the entire community.

If the biomass of a community is increasing, this means that the number of living beings is also increasing.

Given this, options a, b, and d cannot be true, because they describe situations where the biomass would decrease.

We are talking about biomass, not about energy use, so option e would not be the answer either.

Primary succession means an ecosystem is being colonized, so the number of living beings is increasing, which could be a cause for the increase in the biomass of a community.

This means the right answer is c) The community is undergoing primary succession.