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..
This phenomenon can be explained by the concept of energy flow in ecosystems. At each trophic level in a food chain, only about 10% of energy is transferred to the next level, with the rest being lost as heat. This means that there is less available energy at higher trophic levels, resulting in fewer individual organisms at the top of the pyramid.
Plants play a crucial role in supporting ecosystems as primary producers, converting sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. They provide the base of the food chain by producing biomass that supports herbivores and, in turn, carnivores. Since plants are able to capture and store energy more efficiently than animals, they form the largest proportion of biomass in a food pyramid, with fewer organisms at higher trophic levels. This distribution of biomass helps to sustain the ecological balance within an ecosystem.