Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system?

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Definition

Trophic level is the relative position of an entity in the food chain. It forms the feeding positions in a food web or chain. All food webs and chains have at least two or three trophic levels.

An ecological pyramid depicts how energy and biomass decrease from lower to higher trophic levels.

A diagram illustrating different trophic levels in an ecological pyramid is shown below.

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system?

Basic Trophic levels – Examples

Trophic level

Example

Producer – 1st Trophic level

Plants

Primary consumer – 2nd Trophic level

Grasshoppers eat grass

Secondary consumer – 3rd Trophic level

Frogs eat grasshoppers

Tertiary consumer – 4th Trophic level

Snakes eat frogs

Several consumers feed at more than one trophic level. For instance, humans are primary consumers when they consume plants. These are secondary consumers when it consumes cows. When they eat fish, they are tertiary consumers.

Trophic Levels and Energy

Energy is transferred up in a food web or chain from lower to higher trophic levels. Typically, only about 10% of the energy at one level is made available to the next level. This representation is shown by the ecological pyramid.

The remaining 90% of the energy is used for metabolic processes or is released into the environment as heat. The energy loss simplifies why there are rarely more than four trophic levels in a food web or food chain. At times there can be a 5th trophic level, however, generally, there is not enough energy remaining to support any extra levels.

Biomass

Biomass is the net mass of organisms at a particular trophic level.

With lesser energy at higher trophic levels, there are typically lesser entities. Organisms tend to be larger in size at a higher trophic level. However, its smaller numbers lead to less biomass.

The primary trait of each type of ecosystem is trophic structure. In this pyramid, the producer or first level makes up the base of the pyramid. The successive three levels make the apex. The ecological pyramids are of 3 main types, under –

  • Pyramid of energy
  • Pyramid of biomass
  • Pyramid of numbers

Pyramid of energy

This pyramid gives a view of the overall nature of the ecosystem. The weight and number of organisms at any level are based on the rate at which food is being produced. It is upright in shape.

Pyramid of biomass

Comparatively, this pyramid is more fundamentalism. This is because they depict the quantitative relationships of the standing crops instead of the geometric factor. The pyramids may be upright or inverted in shape.

Pyramid of numbers

This pyramid depicts the relationship between herbivores, producers and carnivores at successive trophic levels in terms of their numbers.

In some, the pyramid is upright and in some food chains, the pyramids are inverted (parasites’ food chain).

This was a brief on trophic levels depicted by a diagram. Read related information on trophic levels at BYJU’S.

Also read:

  • Energy flow in ecosystem
  • Overview of food chain
  • Different Types of Ecological Pyramids

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system?

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

An energy pyramid is a model that shows the flow of energy from one trophic, or feeding, level to the next in an ecosystem. The model is a diagram that compares the energy used by organisms at each trophic level. The energy in an energy pyramid is measured in units of kilocalories (kcal). Energy pyramids are similar to biomass pyramids, another type of trophic pyramid that models the amount of biomass at each trophic level in an ecosystem.

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system?

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The structure of an energy pyramid reflects the trophic structure of an ecosystem. The pyramid is divided into trophic levels similar to those in a food chain. At the pyramid base are the producers, autotrophic organisms that make their own food from inorganic substances. All of the other organisms in the energy pyramid are consumers. These are heterotrophs, meaning that they get food energy by consuming other organisms. The consumers at each trophic level feed on organisms from the level below and are themselves consumed by organisms at the level above. Primary consumers are organisms that consume producers; thus, most primary consumers are herbivores, though some may be detrivores (organisms that feed on decaying organic matter). Secondary consumers are carnivores that feed on primary consumers; and tertiary consumers are carnivores that eat secondary consumers. In rare instances, an ecosystem may have an additional trophic level composed of quaternary consumers—carnivores that consume tertiary consumers.

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system?

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The shape of an energy pyramid shows that the amount of food energy that enters each trophic level is less than the amount that entered the level below. Approximately 90 percent of the food energy that enters a trophic level is “lost” as heat when it is used by organisms to power the normal activities of life such as breathing and digesting food; the remaining 10 percent is stored in the various organisms’ tissues. It is this latter energy that is available to be passed to the next trophic level. Thus, the higher the trophic level on the pyramid, the lower the amount of available energy.

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system?

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The number of organisms at each level decreases relative to the level below because there is less energy available to support those organisms. The top level of an energy pyramid has the fewest organisms because it has the least amount of energy. Eventually there is not enough energy left to support another trophic level; thus most ecosystems only have four trophic levels.

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each trophic level of a system apex?

An ecological pyramid (also trophic pyramid, Eltonian pyramid, energy pyramid, or sometimes food pyramid) is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bioproductivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem.

What type of diagram shows the energy levels available at each trophic level?

An ecological pyramid is a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web.

Which diagram shows how much energy is used in each?

An energy pyramid is a diagram that shows the flow and quantification of energy transfer in an ecosystem.

For what is energy used in each trophic level?

Within all biological communities, energy at each trophic level is lost in the form of heat (as much as 80 to 90 percent), as organisms expend energy for metabolic processes such as staying warm and digesting food (see biosphere: The organism and the environment: Resources of the biosphere: The flow of energy).