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Ecological Pyramid

The document discusses different types of ecological pyramids including pyramids of numbers, energy, and biomass. It notes that Charles Elton developed the concept of pyramid numbers while G. Evelyn Hutchinson and Raymond Lindeman developed the idea of the pyramid of energy. Pyramids of energy are always upright as energy flow is unidirectional and decreases at each trophic level. Pyramids of biomass are also generally upright but can be inverted in oceans where zooplankton numbers exceed phytoplankton despite being a higher trophic level.

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Angelyn Bernales
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231 views2 pages

Ecological Pyramid

The document discusses different types of ecological pyramids including pyramids of numbers, energy, and biomass. It notes that Charles Elton developed the concept of pyramid numbers while G. Evelyn Hutchinson and Raymond Lindeman developed the idea of the pyramid of energy. Pyramids of energy are always upright as energy flow is unidirectional and decreases at each trophic level. Pyramids of biomass are also generally upright but can be inverted in oceans where zooplankton numbers exceed phytoplankton despite being a higher trophic level.

Uploaded by

Angelyn Bernales
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID – Graphical representation of the relationship between the

living organisms at different trophic levels.


Charles Elton- developed the concept of pyramid numbers.
G. Evelyn Hutchinson and Raymond Lindeman – they both developed the idea of
pyramid of Energy.

Parasites are organisms that feed or live on other organisms called the host.
Hyper parasites are those parasites that live or feed on other parasites.

PYRAMID OF ENERGY

Pyramid of energy is the only type of ecological pyramid, which is


always upright as the energy flow in a food chain is always
unidirectional. Also, with every increasing trophic level, some
energy is lost into the environment.

PYRAMID of BIOMASS

In this particular type of ecological pyramid, each level takes into


account the amount of biomass produced by each trophic level.
The pyramid of biomass is also upright except for that observed in
oceans where large numbers of zooplanktons depend on a
relatively smaller number of phytoplanktons.

Biomass - the total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area


or volume.

Note : There are two major types of ecological pyramid of biomass


and numbers.

1. Upright - number of individuals or organisms at each


trophic level decreases as you move up the food chain.
2. Inverted - the number of individuals at higher trophic levels
is greater than at lower trophic levels.

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