Question

The pyramid of energy in an ecosystem is
(A)Always upright
(B)Always inverted
(C)Mostly upright
(D)Mostly inverted

Answer 1

Hint: Pyramid of energy is a part of Ecological pyramids that shows the production of biomass at each trophic level in a visual form. The pyramid shows producers at the lowest level and higher trophic levels on top.

Complete answer:
The pyramid of energy in an ecosystem is always upright and can never be inverted. The lowest level always contains the producers as they are rich in energy by their production. The reason behind the upright nature of such a pyramid is because energy is always lost upon transfer.

Additional Information:
The pyramid of energy is one of the three ecological pyramids- pyramids of energy, biomass, and numbers. Like a pyramid of numbers, it is also upright in nature due to the loss of energy at every level upon transfer. This pyramid is a visual representation of the production or turnover at each trophic level and the units mainly remain gram per square meter per year or calories per square meter per year.
The energy at the lower level should always be higher in order for them to maintain their population and to transfer their energy to the higher levels. This is the generalized rule for a healthy ecosystem. The sun is the ultimate source of energy on the Earth that is stored by the primary producers by Photosynthesis in the form of food. But only 1 or 2 % of the total solar energy is stored this way and most of it gets absorbed in the atmosphere or reflected back.

So, the correct answer is "Always upright".

Note: Sometimes there are exceptions in the generalized structure of the pyramid. The reason can be when portions of a food web are supported by resources from outside the local community. For example, in a small forested stream, the volume of higher-level can be greater than that can be supported by the local primary producers.