Question

What type of ecological pyramid would be obtained with the following data?

Secondary consumer: 120 g

Primary consumer: 60 g

Primary producer: 10 g

• A. Pyramid of energy
• B. Upright pyramid of numbers
• C. Upright pyramid of biomass
• D. Inverted pyramid of biomass

Answer 1

The correct option is D

Inverted pyramid of biomass

The correct option is D.

Explanation of the correct option:

1. Ecological pyramids are graphical representations of the relationships between people in a food chain's many trophic levels.
2. The ecological pyramid derived from the data is an inverted biomass pyramid.
3. Consider an aquatic environment, where phytoplankton is the principal producer.
4. Primary consumers (small fishes) consume phytoplankton.
5. Secondary consumers (large fishes) prey on little fishes.
6. Because the biomass of secondary consumers exceeds the biomass of producers, this pyramid is inverted.

Explanation of the incorrect options:

Option A:

1. The biomass of the organisms present at each trophic level is not taken into account in the energy pyramid.
2. However, it is determined by the rate of energy flow per unit area at each trophic level, and the pyramid is always erect.

Option B:

1. The number of individual organisms present in a unit area at each trophic level on the pyramid of numbers.
2. In the grassland and pond ecosystems, it is an upright pyramid, but in a parasitic food chain, it is inverted.

Option C:

1. The upright biomass pyramid is found in a terrestrial setting (forest).
2. Because the biomass of producers outnumbers that of predators.

Final answer: The ecological pyramid of the following data will be an inverted pyramid of biomass.