In a food pyramid there is typically less biomass at the top there are very few individual tertiary consumers where as there are numerous individuals producers in 3 to 5 sentences explain this phenomenon citing evidence relating to energy flow and how plants support ecosystem
The phenomenon of less biomass at the top of a food pyramid can be explained by energy flow in an ecosystem. At each trophic level, only about 10% of the energy from the previous level is transferred to the next level. This means that the energy available to higher trophic levels, such as tertiary consumers, is significantly less compared to the energy available to primary consumers, which mainly feed on producers.
Plants, as primary producers, are at the base of the food pyramid and support the entire ecosystem by converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis. They have the ability to capture and utilize a large amount of energy from the environment. Due to their high productivity and abundance, there are generally more individual plants compared to higher trophic levels, which rely on the energy stored in the plants.
Moreover, as energy is lost at each trophic level, there is a decrease in biomass as we move up the food pyramid. This reduction in energy availability limits the number of individuals that can be supported at higher trophic levels. This phenomenon, known as the 10% rule, helps to explain why there are very few individual tertiary consumers in relation to the numerous individuals in lower trophic levels.