Name: Secondary Productivity
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 4 min 18 s
Description: The pace at which consumers turn the chemical energy in their food into their own biomass is referred to as secondary productivity. Let's learn in detail!

Question

What are the three types of ecological pyramids? What information is conveyed by each pyramid with regard to structure, function and energy in the ecosystem?

Accepted Answer

The ecological pyramids are defined as the graphic representation of the numbers, biomass or the energy at different trophic levels. These were developed by a biologist called Charles Elton in 1927, so are also called the Eltonian pyramids. These are of three types:

1. Pyramid of Number- It depicts the arrangement of the number of individuals in different trophic levels of a food chain. The shape of these pyramids can be inverted or upright depending on the number of producer individuals. In a predatory food chain i.e., in grassland or pond ecosystem it is always upright where the number of organisms increases in each successive trophic level. In the parasitic food chains, the number of individuals in the higher trophic level decreases, thus, an inverted pyramid will be formed in such a food chain.

2. Pyramid of Biomass- It is the graphic representation of the total amount of the living matter in any ecosystem at a given time. The shape of these pyramids can be inverted or upright depending on the type of ecosystem and food chain. It is upright in a terrestrial ecosystem but is inverted in a pond ecosystem where producers are small organisms and the consumers are large. This biomass keeps on increasing in top trophic levels.

3. Pyramid of Energy- It is the graphic representation of the total amount of the energy accumulated per unit area in different trophic levels of any ecosystem at a given time. There is a gradual decrease in energy at the successive trophic levels. The shape of these pyramids is always upright because there is a unidirectional flow of energy.

What are the three types of ecological pyramids? What information is conveyed by each pyramid with regard to structure, function and energy in the ecosystem?

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