In a food pyramid, there is typically less biomass at the top (i.e., there are very few individual tertiary consumers, whereas there are numerous individual producers). In three to five sentences, explain this phenomenon, citing evidence relating to energy flow and how plants support ecosystems.
This phenomenon can be explained by the concept of energy flow in an ecosystem. Producers, such as plants, utilize the energy from the sun to convert it into organic matter through photosynthesis. This energy is then transferred to primary consumers, such as herbivores, who consume the plants. As energy is transferred from one trophic level to another, a significant amount is lost as heat or used for metabolism, limiting the total energy available for higher trophic levels. Therefore, there is less biomass at higher trophic levels, including tertiary consumers, as the energy available to sustain their populations decreases. This is supported by studies showing that the biomass and productivity of primary producers are much higher than that of secondary or tertiary consumers in ecosystems.
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In a food pyramid, there is less biomass at the top because energy flow decreases as it moves up the trophic levels. Producers, like plants, convert sunlight into organic matter, providing a large energy base. However, as energy is transferred to higher trophic levels, it is lost as heat or used for metabolism, resulting in less energy available for tertiary consumers. This is supported by studies showing that biomass and productivity decrease at higher trophic levels.
