Question

The pyramid of energy in a forest ecosystem is:
A.Always upright
B.Always inverted
C.Both upright and inverted
D.None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation of the productivity at different levels of a biome.

Complete step by step answer:
-An ecological pyramid of energy represents the amount of energy, which is utilized by organisms at different trophic levels of a biome, over a period of time. It is also the graphical representation of the productivity at different levels of a biome.
-It is always upright because the producers (1st trophic level) always have more energy than the other trophic levels. As the energy is passed from one trophic level to the next, there is a gradual decrease in both the energy availability and the net productivity continuously decreases.
-Only 10% of the energy is passed from one trophic level to the subsequent higher trophic level. The remaining energy is lost in the form of heat, respiration, or other metabolic processes of the organism.
-For example, in a forest ecosystem, plants are the primary producers with the highest energy. 10% of this energy is transferred to the herbivores that form the 2nd trophic level. 10% of this energy is transferred to primary carnivores that form the 3rd trophic level and so on.

Note:
-Inverted pyramids are seen in the pyramids of numbers. For example, in the case of a parasite ecosystem, the host is of less number and greater biomass, whereas the parasites that rely upon the host for survival are huge in number and less in biomass. Hence, the pyramid of numbers in this case is inverted.
-Pyramids of numbers can also be both upright and inverted at the same time, here the parasites are prey to a small number of predators.