Ecological pyramids

Back to: ZOOLOGY 100 Level

Welcome back, my friend! It’s so good to have you here, ready to keep building your knowledge one beautiful step at a time. Today, we are learning about ecological pyramids. Don’t worry — it’s very easy to understand, and I’ll explain it like we’re just having a friendly chat. Let’s begin!

Ecological pyramids

What are Ecological Pyramids?
Ecological pyramids are simple diagrams that show how energy, numbers, or biomass are distributed among the different trophic levels in an ecosystem.

 

 

You can think of it like a staircase or a pyramid — wide at the bottom and narrow at the top — showing that there is more at the base (plants) and less at the top (top predators).

Types of Ecological Pyramids

1. Pyramid of Numbers
   This pyramid shows the number of individual organisms at each trophic level.

• Usually, there are more plants than herbivores, and more herbivores than carnivores.
• Example:
  In a farm, you may have 500 maize plants → 100 grasshoppers → 10 lizards → 1 hawk.

Simple Example:
Imagine a big mango tree. It may have thousands of insects living on it, even though there’s only one tree. In some cases, the pyramid of numbers can look upside down!

2. Pyramid of Biomass
   This pyramid shows the total mass of living things at each trophic level.

• Biomass means the weight of all the living things combined.
• In most cases, the biomass of plants is greater than that of herbivores, and so on up the chain.

Simple Example:
The total mass of all the grass in a field is far more than the mass of all the rabbits eating the grass.

3. Pyramid of Energy
   This pyramid shows how much energy is available at each trophic level.

• Energy is highest at the producer level (plants) and reduces as you move up.
• Remember the 10% rule: Only about 10% of energy moves to the next level.

Simple Example:
If the grass captures 1000 units of energy from the sun, only 100 units are passed to the grasshopper, 10 units to the frog, and 1 unit to the snake.

The pyramid of energy is always upright because energy decreases at each level.

 

 

Why Are Ecological Pyramids Important?

• They help us understand the health of an ecosystem.
• They show how energy and resources are shared among living things.
• They remind us why protecting producers (like plants) is very important.

Summary

1. Ecological pyramids are diagrams showing the flow of energy, numbers, or biomass.
2. The three types are pyramid of numbers, pyramid of biomass, and pyramid of energy.
3. As you move up the pyramid, the amount of energy, biomass, and usually the number of organisms decreases.

Evaluation

• What is an ecological pyramid?
• Name and explain the three types of ecological pyramids.
• What does a pyramid of biomass show?
• Why is the pyramid of energy always upright?
• How do ecological pyramids help us?
  

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