Thursday, May 15, 2008

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

The amount of energy or matter in an ecosystem can be represented by an ecological pyramid; it is a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web. The types are:
A. Energy Pyramids
Only part of the energy that is stored in one trophic level is passed on to the next level. This is because organisms use much of the energy that they consume for life processes, such as respiration, movement, reproduction, etc. only about 10% of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level. That is why the more level that existing between a producer and a top level consumer in an ecosystem the less energy that remains from the original amount.
B. Biomass Pyramids
The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called biomass. A biomass pyramid represents the amount of potential food available for each trophic level in an ecosystem.
C. Pyramids of Number
It shows the relative number of individuals organisms at each trophic level.

Pictures are taken from:
http://www.eelsinc.org/
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/

1 comment:

Aisha Miller said...
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