Definition - each step in a food chain or food web

Producers make up 1st trophic level

Consumers make up the other trophic levels and rely on the level below for energy

Definition – a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level

There are 3 types of types of pyramids1. Energy Pyramid2. Biomass Pyramid3. Pyramid of Numbers

Shows the amount of energy that flows through the trophic levels

There is no limit to the number of trophic levels in a food web/chain

BUT, as you travel from 1 level to the next, only 10% of the energy is transferred ◦ Most organisms use the energy they have to

support their own life processes (respiration, movement, reproduction) and rest is lost as heat

Biomass – the total amount of living tissue within a trophic level

A biomass pyramid shows the amount of potential food available for each trophic level in an ecosystem

Shows the relative number of individual organisms at each trophic level

May appear the same as the biomass pyramid but not always the case

Ex) In forests there are fewer producers than consumers◦ A Tree would have a large amount of energy/biomass,

but the many insects that live in the tree would have greater numbers, but less biomass