In a food pyramid, there is typically less biomass at the top (i.e., there are very few individual tertiary consumers, whereas
there are numerous individual producers). In three to five sentences, explain this phenomenon, citing evidence relating to
energy flow and how plants support ecosystems. (4 points)
In a food pyramid, there is less biomass at the top because energy is lost as it moves up the trophic levels. This is known as the 10% rule, where only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next. Plants, as primary producers, support ecosystems by converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis, making them the foundation of the food chain. This energy is then transferred to herbivores, which are subsequently consumed by carnivores. Therefore, since energy is lost at each transfer, there are fewer tertiary consumers at the top of the food pyramid compared to producers at the bottom.
