WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY PURAMID WITHIN 200 WORDS PLZ ⤵⤵⤵⤵⤵⤵
Answers
The idea of ecological pyramids was developed by Charles Elton (1927), so the ecological pyramids are also called Eltonian pyramids. An ecological pyramid may be upright (tapering towards the tip) or inverted (widens towards the tip) or spindle shaped (broader in the middle and narrow above and below). An upright ecological pyramid indicates that the producers outnumber or outweigh the herbivores which, in turn, outweigh or outnumber the carnivores.
Essay # 2. Types of Ecological Pyramids:
On the basis of ecological parameters, ecological pyramids are of three types:
(a) Pyramid of Number:
It is the graphic representation showing the arrangement of number of individuals (population size) of different trophic levels in a food chain in an ecosystem.
In a predatory food chain e.g. food chain in a grassland ecosystem or a pond-ecosystem (Fig. 14.15A), the pyramid of number is a straight pyramid. Here, the size of organisms increases with each trophic level from the producer level to the top carnivore level while their number decreases in a food chain (from grasses to predatory birds in grassland ecosystem and from phytoplanktons to large fish in pond ecosystem).
So the producers are smallest sized but maximum in number while the top carnivores are largest in size but least in number so these cannot be used as prey by another species. In a tree-dominated ecosystem (Fig. 14.15C), single large-sized tree (T1) is attacked by numerous minute plant-eating insects (T2) preyed upon by fewer spiders and carnivorous insects (T3) which are further preyed upon by a lesser number of small-sized birds (T4) which are finally preyed upon by only a few large sized birds of prey (T5), the ecosystem is spindle-shaped. Similarly, the pyramid of number in forest ecosystem is spindle-shaped.
Pyramids of Numbers
But in a parasitic food chain e.g. an oak-tree (Fig. 14.15B); pyramid of number is an inverted pyramid
in which a single oak tree (producer) supports a large number of fruit-eating birds which, in turn, support a still larger number of parasites like lice and bugs. Hyperparasites like bacteria; fungi, etc. are the greatest in number and occupy the top of inverted pyramid of numbers.
(b) Pyramid of Biomass:
The total amount of weight of fresh or dry weight of living or organic matter in an ecosystem in a unit area at any time is called biomass. Pyramid of biomass is a graphic representation of biomass present per unit area in different trophic levels.
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When organisms eat other organisms, energy is transferred. An energy pyramid can be used to diagram this flow of metabolic energy. Here we will examine the definition of an energy pyramid, look at some examples:
Definition of an Energy Pyramid
When we talk about the food chain or food web, we typically conjure to mind a lion chasing a gazelle, or perhaps a grazing cow. We imagine one organism being eaten by another and typically associate a large, carnivorous predator at the 'top' of the food chain. While this does show the ecological relationships between organisms, it doesn't exactly show the flow of energy through the ecosystem.
This is where an energy pyramid (sometimes called a trophic pyramid or ecological pyramid) is useful in quantifying the energy transfer from one organism to another along the food chain. Energy decreases as you move through the trophic levels from the bottom to the top of the pyramid.
Trophic Levels of an Energy Pyramid
Energy Pyramid
Energy Transfers
So, we have outlined that an energy pyramid diagrams a transfer of energy through the food chain, but what exactly is this 'energy' we are describing and where does it come from? The whole reason why organisms must eat is to obtain this metabolic energy, vital for their ability to function.
The energy starts with the sun!
Plants produce metabolic energy via photosynthesis, wherein approximately 10% of their energy is stored in their tissues, available for consumption by a grazing herbivore. The rest of the solar energy was used by the plant in its own metabolism, lost as heat or lost as waste.
Of that 10% that an herbivore eats, only 10% of that is stored in its tissues to be eaten by a carnivore. Just like the plant, the other 90% of its metabolic energy is used up by the herbivore in functioning, excreting waste, and heat loss.
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hope it helps ^_^
